


Fake It Til You Date It

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-05-04 18:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 34,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14598927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: This is the story of the many,manytimes that Fitz and Jemma didn't date each other.ON INDEFINITE HIATUS





	1. Chapter 1

_The first time I dated Fitz, we were in the Boiler Room at the Academy._

* * *

 

"Psst!"

Jemma wrinkled her nose and smacked at the elbow that was digging into her ribs. "Just a  _second_ ," she pouted. "I'm calculating my blood alcohol level based on my intake and the amount of time that's passed."

"But-" Eileen tried once more to get her attention, but Jemma was too focused on her inebriated mental maths. "Jemma!"

"What?" she asked impatiently. She'd been in the process of carrying the 1, and now she'd have to start all over again. 

Eileen pointed to the stairs where Paul was just descending onto the dance floor. 

"Oh god." The blood drained out of Jemma's face. Her ex. The man she was here currently drinking to excess in order to forget. He was meant to be visiting home this weekend. What was he doing here? "What do I do?" she asked, turning to Eileen in a panic. 

"This is fine," Eileen said promptly. She always kept her head in a crisis which meant that she was just the right person to be drinking with at this moment. She dug through her purse for a moment and pulled out a red lipstick. "Put this on," she said, handing it to Jemma.

As Jemma did what she was told, Eileen pulled her plaid shirt out of her jeans and unbuttoned the bottom three buttons before tying the shirt tails in a knot that showed off Jemma's belly button. She took the lipstick back and put it away, casting a critical eye over Jemma's hair. It was a bit flat and clearly hadn't been washed in a couple of days. "Ponytail," she decided immediately, handing over an elastic from her wrist.

At least Jemma was wearing jeans instead of the athletic pants with SHIELD across the bum that she'd been practically living with since her breakup. The Uggs had to go, though. 

"Here," Eileen said, kicking off her ballet flats. They quickly changed shoes and then she squinted. There was still something missing... Inspiration struck and she took the gold hoop earrings out of her ears and passed them over. As Jemma put them on, Eileen smiled proudly. 

"You look  _hot_ ," she proclaimed. 

"Really?" Jemma asked, a worry line appearing between her eyebrows. 

"Really," Eileen promised. She was mentally trying to figure out a way to add "2 minute makeover" to her list of skills on her resume. "Now we just need to get you a man."

"What?" Jemma asked, face flushing. "I'm hardly going to go home with someone just becau-"

Eileen sighed and rolled her eyes. "Not for  _you_. For  _Paul_."

Jemma blinked. She'd known that he'd cheated on her. She hadn't realized any of his partners had been men. Maybe she should have demanded names after all? Not that it made any difference.

"To make him jealous?" Eileen continued. 

"Ohhh." That made a lot more sense than Eileen suddenly being concerned over Paul's romantic prospects.

Looking around, she didn't see anyone she wanted to approach and the only man she knew well enough to ask was Randy, who was openly gay. There was no way Paul would believe  _that_. 

But then the crowd parted for a moment and she saw her new lab partner over by the bar. Fitz was a bit shy, but he seemed like a nice fellow. She could probably convince him to be her pretend boyfriend for a half an hour in exchange for some study notes ahead of their mid term. 

"I'll be back," she said to Eileen with a nervous smile. "Wish me luck!"

"Luck!" Eileen called after her. Then she sat back to watch the scene play out. 

Jemma pushed her way through the press of bodies until she was standing right beside Fitz. He didn't notice her at first, so she had to put her hand on his arm. 

"What?" he said, jumping a bit in surprise. 

"Hi," she said. She hoped her smile wasn't as manic as it felt like on her face. "I'm Jemma? From Chem lab?"

Fitz nodded, still looking very surprised and perhaps a little scared as well. 

"I have a strange favour to ask you."

"Okay?" 

"Can you be my boyfriend for the next twenty minutes?"

"I'm sorry? The music's pretty loud, I thought you said-"

"My boyfriend. Can you pretend to be my boyfriend?"

Fitz stared at her with an emotion she tentatively identified as shocked. 

"I used to date this fellow named Paul and we've broken up, but he's here right now. I want him to know that I'm over him and I've moved on."

Fitz's brow wrinkled in confusion. "So why not introduce him to your real boyfriend?"

"I haven't got one," Jemma confessed. "I've actually not moved on just yet. Still in the drinking-and-crying-to-friends stage if I'm honest. But I don't want to give him the satisfaction, you see?"

That seemed to strike a chord with Fitz. He immediately nodded his agreement and stood up from his stool as if in solidarity. 

"Where is he? And what do you need me to do?"

Jemma smiled broadly. Fitz was a better man than she'd thought. 

"I'll just sit down as if you've offered me your stool and I'll give a quick scan, alright?" What was the point in going to spy school if you couldn't put your lessons to good use?

She spotted Paul almost immediately, and he seemed like he was actually going to have the bloody cheek to come right over and talk to her. 

"Kiss me," she said, looking at Fitz in a slight panic. 

"Wha-?"

She grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him between her knees, and pressed her lips against his. 

As kisses went, it was a bit lackluster. Fitz was sort of limp and not really kissing back, but his hands had moved to her hips, so she didn't need to do much to sell it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she slipped one hand into his hair. They held it for almost thirty seconds before they finally parted. 

"Sorry about that," Jemma said, faking a laugh and brushing a hand down the front of Fitz's shirt. She was trying to look as flirtatious as possible. Paul was still visible in her peripheral vision. 

"No, that's- It's fine. I mean, I-" Fitz stuttered. 

"Smile," Jemma said through clenched teeth, keeping her own smile in place. 

"Oh, right!" Fitz let out a fake laugh of his own. It was moderately convincing. 

It must have been more so when it wasn't audible because Paul turned away and moved to the far corner of the club. 

"Oh, thank god," Jemma breathed out in relief. 

"He's gone?" Fitz guessed. 

She nodded. Then she grinned at him. "You were brilliant, though. Thanks for that!" Hopping off of the stool, she grabbed his beer and handed it to him. "Come on," she said. Hooking her hand in the crook of his elbow, she started dragging him back to where she'd been sitting before. 

"You've earned yourself a night of free drinks from me and my friend, Eileen."

Smart as he was, Fitz didn't say no. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Thanks again for Friday," Jemma said with a smile as she sat down next to Fitz. "I hope it wasn't  _too_ horrible an experience for you?"

Fitz laughed and shook his head. "I survived it well enough," he answered dryly. "Though it was a struggle. Kissing a pretty girl. Getting free drinks all evening. It's a wonder I was able to power through!"

Jemma pressed her hand to her mouth to cover up her laughter as Dr. Ma started the instructions for their chem lab. Sitting up straight, she faced resolutely forward until their professor was done speaking, and then she turned to Fitz with a wide grin in place. 

"Have you got lunch after this?" she asked. "I'm meeting up with Eileen and Gerta. There's always room for one more..."

She looked at him hopefully. She'd been trying to find a way to befriend him for months now, but he'd always avoided her. He'd thawed out a bit when they'd been partnered for this class, but they hadn't had a proper sort of friendly conversation until she'd all but accosted him at the Boiler Room. This was her chance. 

"Are you buying again?"

Jemma laughed. She'd wanted to get to know him because they were the same age and both new to America. Knowing that he was funny as well just made her want to be friends even more. 

"Only if we run into my ex again," she said. Then she sighed and shook her head. "He's bloody  _everywhere_."

Fitz nodded sagely. "That's the problem with a small community like a campus. There isn't much chance to escape someone you don't want to see."

"So I've noticed."

"The better course of action would probably be just avoiding dating within the geographic region at all."

Jemma nodded, then paused. She squinted a bit in thought. That was actually a really good point. "So you mean, not date people in Sci-Ops?" she asked. 

"Exactly," Fitz nodded. 

Jemma found it funny that Fitz could go about gathering up materials and setting up an experiment whilst simultaneously causing her an epiphany. He was quite the multi-tasker. 

"If I restrict my dating to Comms and Ops..." she said slowly, thinking through the idea to its logical end. "Then I have the advantage of not having to lie about being in SHIELD while  _also_ having the advantage of not having to them all around campus should we break up."

Fitz frowned, looking at her like she might be one beaker short of a rack. "Yeah, that's what I said."

Jemma's smile came back and she nodded to herself. "Brilliant," she said under her breath. 

With that decided, she got out her notebook and then settled down to their work. 

* * *

 

They did see Paul again at lunch time, but Jemma didn't even notice right at first. 

"So Heisenberg is driving on the motorway with Schrodinger in the passenger seat," Fitz said animatedly. Jemma was already smiling. He'd told any number of physics jokes, and each one was funnier than the last. "A police officer pulls them over and comes up to the window. He asks Heisenberg, 'Sir, do you know how fast you were going?'"

Jemma, Eileen, and Gerta all screeched with laughter. Out of nowhere, Fitz was suddenly speaking like an American. 

"Oh god!" Eileen gasped, clutching at her stomach. "I think I know where this is going."

"Me too!" Jemma's cheeks hurt from laughing too hard. 

Fitz grinned, but kept telling the joke. "Heisenberg replies, 'No, but I know where I am.'" Another upswell of laughter interrupted him, but he kept going as soon as the giggles were just a dull roar. "Of course, the policeman doesn't really know what to do with that response, so he tells Heisenberg to open the boot. When he does, he looks in and sees a box. Not at all sure about these men he's pulled over, he opens the lid and then he says, 'Do you know there's a dead cat back here?'"

At the same time that Fitz continued, all three women chimed in as well. 

"Shrodinger replies, 'I do now!'"

"Shrodinger's all, 'My experiment!'"

"'He wasn't dead when I put him in there!'"

"'Last I saw, he was in a state of quantum superposition!'"

Jemma was wiping the tears from her eyes when a familiar voice cleared its throat behind her. 

"Jemma?"

She froze, not quite sure what to do. But then Fitz grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze and she remembered that for all Paul knew, she had a new boyfriend. 

"Yes?" she asked, turning to look at him. She wasn't frozen anymore, but her tone certainly was. 

Paul looked sheepish and apologetic, and once upon a time that might have earned him her sympathy, but he'd played that card one time too many with her. 

"Can we go somewhere? Talk?"

Her lips turned up into a frigid smile. "I was already talking, thank you," she replied coolly. "And I'm confident that whatever you have to say is considerably less interesting than the conversation I'm already in."

Paul looked from her to Fitz and back again. "I see."

"Yeah, you do," Fitz said, a bit pugnaciously. It was a bit funny really, considering the difference in their sizes. "Now see yourself out."

Jemma watched with satisfaction as Paul slunk away with proverbial tail between his legs. 

"Can you have lunch with us  _every_ day?" Jemma asked with a grin. 

Eileen and Gerta agreed wholeheartedly.


	3. Chapter 3

_The second time I dated Jemma, she didn't actually know about it._

_At least, not right at first._

* * *

 

It was the start of a new term and Fitz was feeling surprisingly good. He'd had a nice visit back home with his mum, and this time when he flew to America he knew he had friends waiting to greet him. It was a good sight better than the first time he'd made the flight, that was for sure. 

He was still going to be living in the dorms like he had in his first term, but he didn't mind that too much. He might not have his own flat and his own rules, but he could wake up five minutes before class started and still be in his seat on time. Or close enough to on time that his professors didn't make a fuss. 

Jemma did, but that was another matter entirely. 

She was in his room waiting for him when he arrived, hands behind her back and a big smile on her face. 

dropping his duffel unceremoniously on his floor, he gave her a stern look. It was marred by the corner of his mouth twitching, and she wasn't buying it for a second. 

"Remind me why I gave you the key code to my door?" he asked in the hardest tone he could muster. 

It was just this side of marshmallow fluff. 

"Because we were both leaving on early flights and you were worried about oversleeping, so you gave me permission to drag you bodily out of bed if need be and out into the taxi," Jemma recited promptly. She was bouncing on her toes now and her grin was so broad he could count most of her teeth. 

Finally indulging her, Fitz smiled. He rolled his eyes fondly and waved his right hand in a 'gimme' gesture. "Alright, alright. Fork it over. What did you bring me?"

He enjoyed the fact that Jemma thought his accepting gifts from her was doing her a favour. He had no idea  _why_ she felt that way, but since she did he'd let her. 

Beaming like a child at Christmas, Jemma brought her hands out from behind her back and presented him with a glass cylinder full of floating baubles. 

"Is that a-"

"[Galileo thermometer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_thermometer)," Jemma answered before he could even guess. I got it at the [Natural History Museum](http://www.nhm.ac.uk/). I saw it there in the gift shop and I just had to get it for you."

Fitz blushed as he accepted the gift. He was still getting used to the fact that he and Jemma were friends. That she'd thought about him while she was home visiting was almost impossible to believe. 

"Thanks," he said sincerely. Turning to look at the messy shelves on his wall full of books and experiments, he took down his Iron Man action figure and put the thermometer in its place. "It's brilliant."

He smiled a bit shyly, glad that his mum had convinced him to get the book he'd immediately known Jemma would love. 

"I've actually brought you back something, too," he said, scratching his cheek and smiling awkwardly. Moving quickly to get past the moment, he grabbed his duffel off the floor and swung it up onto his mattress. He unzipped it and dug around for a moment before finally pulling it out and handing it to her. 

"[Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World](https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1607749769/ref=as_li_ss_tl?psc=1&slotNum=39&_encoding=UTF8&refRID=MSN7D6YQT856D2WBQHP1&linkCode=g12&linkId=b6f494dcb6b5337d4615654c3c47f616&imprToken=QFX1tZ-nh7fIqqFg5vCmtA&creativeASIN=1607749769&tag=gwca00-20)," Jemma said. She smiled as she read the cover and her eyes lit up a bit when she opened up the pages. "Oh, Fitz. It's perfect! I love it!"

Hugging the book to her chest, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"Alright." He was smiling and looking down at his shoes, not at all sure how to change the subject. "I know you already know most of them, but I didn't before you, so..."

It was strange, giving gifts to someone for no particular reason. He didn't really know the etiquette. Thankfully Jemma just sat down on his bed and started talking all about her vacation and asking him questions about his. 

She was good like that. Able to get him past an awkward moment like it was nothing. He supposed, to her, it was. 

It was an hour or more later that she finally stood up again. 

"I should let you unpack and maybe have a rest," she said as she opened the door to his room. 

Fitz waved her off with a dismissive noise. "I'll sleep when I'm dead," he joked. "Besides, I'm not  _about_ to miss dinner."

Jemma laughed. "Meet you in the caf at half six?"

"See you then."

As Jemma walked down the hall, still hugging her book to her chest, Fitz waved hello to his hall mate who was just arriving back at his room. 

"Hey Sven. Good trip home?"

"Yeah, pretty great actually. It's never long enough, but other than that I can't complain."

Fitz was just stepping back into his room when Sven leaned back a bit to continue watching Jemma as she got to the end of the hall and turned the corner. 

"Are you two still going out?" he asked curiously. 

"Me and Jemma?" Fitz asked. He managed to suppress his sigh but really. That had been twenty minutes of faking it two months ago. How had the rumour mill not caught up yet. "Yeahhh," he said sarcastically. "Hot and heavy. Can't stop won't stop."

Sven shook his head in wonder and flashed Fitz a thumbs up. "You've done well, my friend. I should like to date her myself except that I know I should put my bros before girls."

Fitz  _almost_ corrected him, but he decided Sven was better off getting that particular idiom just a little bit wrong. Besides, teaching him about sarcasm seemed like the more important step. 

"Actually-"

"Oh, that's my mother calling," Sven smiled, holding up his cell phone. "I told her I'd let her know when I arrived safely. She is too impatient for me."

Fitz chuckled and let Sven go. He'd correct him later. 

For now, he had his duffel to unpack and then some dinner to eat. Priorities.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Fitz put one foot in front of the other, moving on autopilot. Every time he blinked, his eyes stayed shut for a full second or two. It was probably unsafe for him to be wandering around. As he turned the corner, he heard voices coming from the common room and decided a short stop would be a good idea. 

"Really, I promise you!"

"Nah, man. No way. They were just messin' with Paul. They're not actually dating for real."

Fitz slouched into the common room with his too-heavy rucksack weighing him down. He dropped it on the floor with a thud redolent with text books and then collapsed into an empty chair. Now that he was sitting down, he realized he should have gone direct to his room, but the common room was on the way and he was so exhausted he needed a rest before walking to the end of the hall. The problem now was getting up out of this chair again. 

But that was a problem for future!Fitz. Current!Fitz was pretty happy about not moving or thinking at all.  

"Hey Fitz."

"Sven, Jason." Fitz waved tiredly and sunk deeper into the cushion. He'd been up all night with Jemma working on the synthesis of their knockout agent. The woman was a perfectionist as well as completely obsessive. It was a wonder she ever slept at all! They run test after test with minute adjustment after minute adjustment. Every round got them data and that data prompted her to want to reset and try testing the next parameter. 

He was sorely tempted to just make virtual lab environment and program an AI to do all of the testing. It would be less effort. 

"Where were you last night? We were marathoning Lord of the Rings and we couldn't find you." Jason held up a can of orange soda and when Fitz nodded, he tossed it over to him. 

"And you didn't answer the call, either," Sven pointed out, waggling his phone. 

Fitz let out a groaning sigh and nodded. He popped the top on the soda and took a long draught. Sugar. That'd get him out of the chair and back to his room.

"Phone's dead. Left my charger in my room by mistake." Yawning, he scratched his cheek. There was actually a bit of stubble there. That was new. He used to be able to shave once a week. Now it seemed like it was every other day. "Jemma's doesn't work for my phone, so I was out of luck."

Sven looked at Jason pointedly. "I  _told_ you."

Jason let out a  _pfft_ of disbelief. Turning to Fitz, he asked, "So you were with Simmons  _all night_?"

Fitz nodded and yawned again. "The woman's tireless!" he complained. "Kept me up the whole night and wanted to keep going this morning! She's relentless!" He stretched his neck this way and that, then arched his back to crack it. He was still a bloody teenager, for god's sakes! Why did he feel like an old man?

Jason blinked while Sven crossed his arms with a smug smile. "See?"

Jason squinted, leaning in to look at Fitz more closely. "You and _Simmons_?"

Fitz yawned so widely his jack cracked.  He waggled it back and forth to make it feel better. "Who else would I be with?" he asked rhetorically. All of his other classmates had the sense to go to bed at a decent hour and come back to the lab the next day. 

With a huge, tired sigh, Fitz ran a hand through his curls. "Sorry fellows, I think I need to go crash. No doubt Jemma'll want a whole 'nother round in a few more hours. If I don't rest now, I'll be useless."

 _He_ was perfectly satisfied with the drug they were producing, but Jemma was convinced that with a few more rounds of adjustments they could get up to 3% stronger on the resultant solution. And since that 3% might be the difference between an agent living or dying... Jemma was smart. She knew just how to motivate him: guilt.

Heaving a groan, Fitz forced himself up and out of his chair. He let out another, louder groan when he lifted up his bag. He wrinkled his nose when he got a whiff of himself. "Bloody hell, I need a shower," he muttered to himself. 

Sven smacked Jason on the arm and gave him a look that screamed 'I told you so.'

"Oh, yeah. Did you get through all of the films?" Fitz asked, just before he walked out the door.  

"Uh huh," Jason nodded. He was looking a bit strange, but Fitz was too tired to bother figuring out why. "We were thinking of doing Star Wars next." He looked from Sven to Fitz, eyebrows drawn together in... confusion? Fitz was just guessing but he thought that's what it was.

He nodded and gave them another tired wave and a smile. "Cool. Let me know when?"

And then he was trudging down the hall to his room where he hoped to be able to get three whole hours of sleep before Jemma was dragging him out of bed and back to the lab again.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Two days later, Fitz nervously knocked on Jemma's door.

They'd managed to surpass Jemma's desire for a 3% improvement in their solution. They got it all the way up to 3.7%. At that point, Fitz had just about fallen over with exhaustion, and even Jemma was prepared to admit that perhaps she'd pushed them too hard. Of course, she couldn't admit it without also pointing out that they never would have managed it without the additional hours of work, but Fitz had been too tired to care. He'd just smiled and nodded and then flopped down on the nearest flat surface for a nap. 

That was yesterday. Today, he'd discovered what had been going on whilst they'd been working (and occasionally sleeping). 

"Fitz!" Jemma opened her door as wide as her smile and gestured him inside. "I have to admit I'm a bit surprised to see you. I thought you might want a break from me after the last few days." She laughed, but he could see that she was half-serious as well. 

"Nah," he grinned. "It'll take a lot more than 20 hours a day together to make me sick of you," he joked. Jemma's smile broadened even more, and he felt a slight bit of hope that he might survive this conversation. 

"So ehm-" He licked his lips and cleared his throat, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as his shoulders rose up near his ears. "Have you ehm. Have you talked to... y'know. Anyone? Recently?" His voice just kept rising in pitch so that by the end of his question he was surprised she could still hear him. To him, it sounded like a pitch only dogs could pick  up. 

Jemma laughed and frowned at the same time. "What? Have I talked to anyone? That's a bit of an odd question."

Fitz chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Hah. Yeah. Weird." He cleared his throat again and swallowed hard. "I just mean, have you- Have Sven or maybe Jason said anything to you? About... anything?"

Jemma was looking more concerned now. He was going about this all wrong. 

"Anything such as what?" she asked suspiciously. 

"Such as, well, ehm." Fitz gestured towards her with an open hand, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. He squinted as he tried to find the right words, his mouth forming an oh shape. When the words still didn't come, he took deep breath. Then he sighed and shoved his hand back into his pocket. 

"Maybe have a seat?" he suggested. 

That wasn't helping make Jemma feel any more relaxed, but it was helping him. Anything he could do to stall the conversation, really. 

"Fitz? What's going on?"

She was looking properly worried now, and that just added to his guilt. 

"It's like this," Fitz said. Grabbing her desk chair, he pulled it over so that he could look her in the eyes as she sat on her bed. "Remember that whole thing with Paul at the Boiler Room forever ago?" Jemma nodded. "And how people thought we were really dating?" She nodded again. "And how we had to spend all that time telling them we weren't? That we're just friends?" 

Jemma sighed and chuckled. "You'd think we'd told them Santa didn't exist."

Fitz pressed his lips together in an apologetic line. "We're going to have to do it again," he said.

"What?" Jemma's frown deepened and formed a line between her eyebrows. "Why? What happened?"

Fitz explained about how Sven had gotten things wrong and then how he'd made it worse the other night. At least Jemma could see the humour in that?

"But then I sort of-" He took a deep breath and sighed it out. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he admitted, "I sort of made it  _worse_."

"Worse?" Jemma laughed. "How?"

He looked up at her with a pleading expression, knowing he didn't actually deserve any pity. He wanted some though. 

"Jason just kept going on and  _on_ about how  _surprised_ he was that we really were dating. He kept saying I must have whipped something up in the lab to convince you, or maybe I had blackmail material or something. He got a whole gaggle of them going in the common room, trying to figure out what I'd done to get you to be my girlfriend."

Heaving a sigh, Fitz looked at Jemma with all the gloominess of a gothic novel. 

"I'd  _meant_ to tell them all it was a misunderstanding, but when they all piled on like that..." He looked at her helplessly. "So I told them it was true."

Jemma's jaw jut out in righteous anger, and Fitz's heart sank. This was the end of their friendship. He'd ruined it all just because a bunch of arseholes had hurt his pride. 

" _Right_ ," she said firmly. She took a deep breath and nodded with determination. Purpose radiated from her whole being. "Get on the bed."

Fitz blinked, utterly confused. "Get- What?"

Jemma shifted over on the bed and lay down with her head on the pillow. She patted the mattress beside and gave Fitz a look like she was doing the most obvious thing in the world. 

"C'mon. If you want to convince them we're dating, you should have photos of us acting as boyfriend and girlfriend."

Fitz blushed bright red to the roots of his hair. "What do you mean, 'acting like boyfriend and girlfriend'?" he asked, somewhat alarmed.

Jemma was reacting in pretty much the exact  _opposite_ to the way he'd expected her to. He'd thought she'd throw him out of her room and tell him never to speak to her again, and here she was telling him to get in bed with her and act like her boyfriend?

"Aren't you upset?"

"Of  _course_ I am," Jemma said, rolling her eyes at his incomprehension. "With  _them_. You know I don't have any truck with bullies."

Fitz nodded. He certainly knew that, yes. "But what about-?"

"So we just show them that I  _am_ your girlfriend, and that should shut them up."

Fitz stared at her. "Uhhh Jemma?"

She rolled her eyes again and sighed as she stood up. "Fine. We'll do it standing. But I think it'd be more convincing my way."

"Do wha-?"

But she had one arm wrapped around his neck before he could even finish his question and her other hand came up holding her phone. 

"Smile!"

He did,  _somehow_ , and then the shutter sound clicked and then Jemma was showing him her new wallpaper. The two of them embracing and smiling for the camera. 

"Now let's do yours!" she said. 

Fitz was still staring at the first picture, but he got out his phone anyway and turned on the camera. 

"Should we-"

But before he could ask, Jemma's lips were half a centimeter from his. Without even thinking about it, he closed his eyes. The shutter clicked again and a movement of air let him know that Jemma had backed away. 

"Oh, that's a good one!" she said. 

Opening his eyes, Fitz looked at the photo. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn they were about to make out. 

"Next time they get going, just pull out your phone," Jemma said with a shrug. 

Fitz shook his head, a fond smile on his face. "You're completely mental, you know that right?" he asked rhetorically. "If I do that, we'll  _never_ stop the rumours that we're dating."

Jemma shrugged. "There are worse rumours to have going about."

"Are you sure about this?"

"We never did manage to stamp them all out last time," Jemma pointed out. "So this time we make it an official relationship. With an official breakup. Wait a few weeks, and we can say that you dumped me."

Fitz actually laughed out loud at that one. "No way," he said, shaking his head. "You dump me. No one'll believe it, the other way round."

Jemma smacked him on the arm and grinned. "We'll draw lots for it," she suggested. "And in the meantime, we can make everyone sick with how  _in love_ we are with each other."

Fitz's grin turned wicked. "I'm in."


	6. Chapter 6

For the next six weeks, they conspired to get more and more obvious about their 'relationship.'

They started with just holding hands in public places, separating when they got 'spotted.' It didn't take long  _at all_ for people to pick up on that and call them out on it. Fitz didn't even have to fake his blush. He was a horrible liar and just waiting to get caught out. Jemma, for her part, brazened it out fairly well. She was just as bad a liar, but everyone took it for embarrassment rather than deception. 

Soon the whole campus knew that FitzSimmons were dating. 

After that, it was simple to start holding hands just about any time they were standing or sitting next to each other. It was odd at first, but it became habit fairly quickly. Fitz even started carrying his tablet with his left hand so that Jemma could hold his right.   
  
The kissing was a bit weirder. It had been Jemma's idea. Sure, they'd kissed that night in the Boiler Room, but that was one time. In a dark room. Where everyone was varying stages of drunk. Doing it in broad daylight while everyone looked on with huge grins on their faces was something else entirely. 

Just like the hand holding, they'd started off slow. A kiss on the cheek here. A peck on the lips there. They never actually  _snogged_ or anything, but they did purposefully rumple their clothes and hair any time they left a room where they'd been alone. The rumour mill took note. 

Jason and company weren't laughing it up anymore. 

Fitz was satisfied that they'd done enough by the time they'd hit week three. They were holding hands and exchanging chaste kisses, and everyone on campus thought they were a 'thing.' But Jemma didn't think they'd pushed it far enough yet. It had been her idea to get purposefully mussed before leaving her room one evening to go to dinner. 

Just like it was her idea to sit in his lap one afternoon in the common room. 

"Uhh. Jemma?" Fitz asked uncertainly. There was plenty of space on the sofa. In fact, they were the only two people in the room. There were any number of other surfaces she could choose to sit on. "What, uh. What are you doing?"

"Sitting on my boyfriend's lap," Jemma replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

Fitz stared at her flatly. 

Jemma rolled her eyes and shifted so just her legs were draped over his thighs instead of her bum being right on top of him. "Spoilsport," she muttered. 

Fitz snorted. 

"I appreciate you going all 'method' on this," he said mildly. "But there isn't even any-"

"Don't you two look cozy?"

Fitz turned to see Jason and Greta standing in the doorway. 

"Heyyyy," he said as casually as he could manage. He put a hand on Jemma's knee, then felt weird about it and let it slide down her calf. That was still a bit odd, but less so. 

"You know," Jason said as he walked over to the mini fridge under the window and pulled out a can of grape soda. "I didn't actually believe it at first. You and Fitz." He pointed from Jemma to Fitz and then shrugged. "But now that I see it with my own two eyes, it makes a lot of sense."

Fitz blinked and frowned. "It does?"

Jemma smacked his arm lightly and gave him a Significant Look™. 

"Of course it does," she said with a bright smile. "We're practically soulmates when you think about it."

Greta nodded and curled up in one of the chairs. "You two really are great together," she nodded. "I don't know why it took you so long."

Jemma shrugged. "Fitz never asked, and I didn't think he was interested."

Fitz got a warm glow from the surprise on Jason's face. The idea that Jemma had liked  _Fitz_ first was clearly news to him. 

"Well, I'm glad he finally grew some balls," Jason joked after recovering. "It'd suck, you two not getting together just because he couldn't get the words out."

Fitz felt his face turn purple as his grip on Jemma's calf tightened. Bloody  _Jason_. He always had to take the piss. 

Jemma laughed, and Fitz could tell how fake it was. Greta and Jason weren't fooled either. 

"Yes, well, all better now!" she said in a syrupy sweet voice. Then she swung her legs off Fitz's lap and held out her hand to him as she stood up. "Anyway, we were just talking about going to Fitz's room to... study."

Jason smirked and Greta laughed. "Biology lab?" she joked. 

"Something like that," Jemma grinned. 

Fitz was in no mood for jokes, but thankfully he just had to follow Jemma as she led him out of the room and down the hall. 

"Wanker," he muttered under his breath as they walked out of earshot. 

"Agreed."

That was the first night Jemma slept over in his room. 

It became a regular occurrence after that. Almost every night, they'd make a spare bed on either his floor or hers and have a sleepover. It was sort of nice, in a slightly weird way. Who doesn't enjoy having their friend, in fact now  _best_ friend, sleeping over? They had a lot of good conversations after the lights were turned off and before sleep took over. That part was brilliant. It was the bits surrounding it that Fitz could have done without. 

Male classmates were now wanting to have in-depth, graphic conversations with him. Blokes he knew to wave to in the hallway were asking him about Jemma's... intimate preferences. People either wanted to give him 'tips' or get them from him, and through it all Fitz blushed and gave non-answer after non-answer. 

When he found out that Jemma had been making up a rather detailed sex life for them any time she was asked... Well, it was a good thing he was sitting down, otherwise he might have fainted!

That was when he decided they needed to call things off. It was all getting just a bit too  _much_ for him, and they'd certainly accomplished the mission of convincing everyone they were dating. Now they just needed a reason to break up. 

Jemma, as always, was prepared. There was a list. 

  * one of us cheated on the other
  * one of us has an annoying habit that the other just can't stand anymore
  * we had a difference of opinion regarding the many worlds theory, and we were unable to resolve it
  * our parents think we're too young to be dating so seriously
  * Agent Weaver informed us that we won't be posted together if we're in a romantic relationship, and we're prioritizing our friendship and working relationship over romance



It continued for nearly two pages. And it was annotated. She'd even sketched out actual plans for some of them. 

In the end, they decided that the most believable one on the list was that their romantic relationship had negatively impacted their work. Neither of them was getting as much sleep as they'd like with their current arrangement, and they had a midterm coming up that they could do poorly on without having too much of an effect on their final grade. Neither of them wanted to fail on purpose, but it seemed like the easiest route to a breakup. 

When the exam results posted and their names were in the middle of the pack instead of in the 1 and 2 spots, a ripple of surprise went through the Academy. FitzSimmons  _not_ at the top of the class? It was almost unbelievable. 

The breakup was amicable and they were able to stay friends. At least, that's what they told everyone else. _They_ knew that they'd never been anything but, of course, but they wouldn't be telling anyone that any time soon. 


	7. Chapter 7

_The third time I dated Fitz, it was just the most convenient thing for the both of us._

* * *

 

"I can't believe we're graduating already!" Jemma said, shaking her head and eating a piece of popcorn. She was lounging in Eileen's living room with Fitz, Greta, and Sven. They'd become a tight knit study group over the past two years. "I'm going to miss you all so much!"

Eileen nodded and took a pull from her beer. "I know! I wish we could all get assigned together."

"Yeah," Greta and Sven said together. 

Greta smacked Sven on the shoulder and laughed. "What are  _you_ complaining about?" she asked. "You and Hugo are going to be posted together. It's the rest of us who'll have to go it alone." She sighed and grabbed a large handful of popcorn, stuffing it all in her mouth in one go. She was a stress eater. 

Sven shrugged and grinned. "Yes, but a husband isn't the same thing as a friend, you know," he pointed out. "He's my  _best_ friend, but he's not my only one."

Eileen rolled her eyes and laughed, throwing a piece of popcorn at him. "Stop throwing your perfect relationship in our faces," she teased. "You're in a room with a bunch of lonely singles."

Jemma scoffed. She was hardly  _lonely_. "Some of  us don't mind being single," she pointed out. 

Fitz snorted. "Are you including yourself in that statement?" he asked mildly. She had more exes than tic-tac-toe championship. 

Now it was Jemma's turn to smack Fitz's arm. "Quiet, you," she warned him with a smile. Then she shifted over and leaned her head on the shoulder she'd just smacked. "I don't want to be posted away from you," she said with a pout. "It won't be any fun at all."

Eileen and Greta exchanged a look. Greta nodded and Eileen cleared her throat. 

"You  _know_ ," she said in a leading tone. "They post  _couples_ together..."

"And you two used to be hot and heavy, back in the day," Greta added on. 

Sven nodded firmly. "Even before we were married, Hugo and I asked Dr. Weaver if it would be possible for us to be working together and she said that it would be."

Fitz had frozen when Greta had referenced their deception from back in first year. He'd actually forgotten they'd done that. Being reminded was embarrassing. They'd fooled the entire Academy into believing they were dating! What had they been thinking?

"Really?" Jemma asked. She leaned forward, intrigued. "So you'd have been posted together, even if you were just dating?"

Sven nodded again. "There is a form to fill out and to give to Dr. Weaver. She can review it. Then she can decide."

Jemma turned to Fitz, a hopeful look on her face. 

Fitz stared back like a deer in the headlamps. 

* * *

 

"I appreciate your consideration, Dr. Weaver," Jemma said. She was sitting forward on her seat and looking eagerly at the Academy's Director. "I apologize for not applying sooner, but Fitz and I didn't realize the dispensation was available for  _any_ couples. We thought it was just for spouses."

She turned to look at Fitz who was slouched down slightly and avoiding eye contact. She nudged his foot with hers and he sat up a bit straighter. 

"And while we're quite serious about each other, we think we're a bit young to get married just yet," she concluded. 

Her smile froze when Fitz choked slightly, but he turned it into a fairly credible cough. 

Ann Weaver looked from one student to the other and then down to the meticulously filled out form in front of her. There were appendices. Appendices were not a requirement, nor were they expected. They weren't indicated on the form in any way. Neither was the essay section. 

"I'll read through your submission with the panel," Dr. Weaver promised. "We'll be able to give you our decision next week."

Jemma's face crumpled a bit. Assignments were meant to be given out this week. "But-"

Dr. Weaver shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jemma. You really should have submitted this three weeks ago if you wanted us to be able to factor it into your assignment already."

Jemma nodded. She'd been so  _sure_ this would work, she was a bit dampened now. 

"Fitz?" Dr. Weaver turned to him. He pushed himself even straighter in his chair and managed to look her in the eye. "You've been awfully quiet. Is there anything you'd like to share?"

Clearing his throat nervously, Fitz licked his lips and tried to think of anything to say. Then he looked over at Jemma. She looked so anxious, he just had to do  _something_. 

"I want to be posted with Jemma," he said with feeling. "We've been together all through the Academy, and she makes me better at what I do. She helps me think and she calms me down. I'm not half the agent alone that I am with her."

His cheeks were flushed pink, but when he saw Jemma's smile, it was worth the embarrassment. 

"I feel  _just_ the same," Jemma said, reaching out to hold Fitz's hand. "Just  _exactly_ the same."

* * *

 

By the following week, the entire Academy knew that FitzSimmons had gotten back together. 

And Jemma and Fitz knew they'd been posted together.


	8. Chapter 8

It turned out that SHIELD weren't just romantics who believed in true love, they were also pragmatists. By posting couples together, they could save on housing costs. 

Jemma looked around the flat she'd be sharing with Fitz and thought it wasn't bad at all. 

The front door opened to a reasonably sized kitchen on the right and a large closet on the left. When she opened up the door, there was plenty of storage space, as well as a stackable washer/dryer. Moving further into the apartment, she smiled at the built-in shelving in the living room and dining area. She'd been worried there wouldn't be space for her books, but this looked like it would do just fine. The furniture wasn't anything to write home about, but it was in good condition and looked comfortable enough.

She was just stepping out onto the balcony when she heard Fitz swear behind her. 

"What's the matter?" she asked, moving into the short hallway. 

Fitz came out of an open door with a scowl on his face. "I thought you asked for a two bedroom?" he asked accusingly. 

"I did," Jemma nodded with a frown. She looked at the hallway. Three doors. Two bedrooms and a bathroom, she assumed. "Why?"

"Apparently, whoever found this place for us thought you meant a bedroom and an _office_." Stepping fully into the hallway, he gestured for Jemma to enter the room he'd just left. 

She understood what he meant immediately. "Oh."

"Yes,  _oh_ ," Fitz agreed. 

"Oh, I see. This is-" She turned to look at him apologetically. 

"A shoebox? Yes. I'd noticed that."

The room was set up as a home office, and she couldn't see it being anything else. It was large enough to fit the desk and a bookshelf that had been provided, but not much more. Certainly not a bed. Not even if the rest of the furniture were removed.

"Well... We could-" Jemma opened and closed her mouth a few times, but finally just ended on a sigh. There was nothing for it. This wouldn't do at all. 

Fitz watched her with his hands on the small of his back and an impatient expression. When she sighed, he smiled in satisfaction. "I  _told_ you this was a ridiculous idea!" he said triumphantly. "I said it wouldn't last three days, didn't I?"

Jemma nodded. She chewed on her bottom lip and looked around the tiny room with a frown. She let Fitz continue to go on as he liked to do while she tried to figure out what on earth they could do about the situation. Extensive home renovations certainly weren't the most viable solution. Either they'd have to share a bedroom which was not bloody likely or they'd have to move. 

She squinted as she tried to remember where she'd seen something about that... There had been information about SHIELD housing and what to do if you were dissatisfied. She'd read something... Somewhere... If she could just-

"-caught out as complete  _liars_ when we've only just become official Agents, and-"

"We'll put in a change order!" Jemma blurted. She let out a breath of relief when she finally remembered what it was. 

Fitz stopped mid-rant and blinked. "A what?" 

"A change order."

"This is one of those things that you know about because you read all of the fine print, isn't it?"

Jemma nodded, a small smug smile appearing on her face. "It's there for a reason, after all," she pointed out. "And on our housing agreement, the fine print said that we have 72 hours to lodge a complaint or make a change request. If we find ourselves dissatisfied after that, we give up our housing to other agents and get a stipend to put toward our own preferred accommodation."

Fitz stared at her for a moment. "Why on  _Earth_ did we not just do that at the outset and avoid all-" He gestured at the room. " _This_?"

Jemma crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Because if we go that route, we need to pay our own moving costs." Fitz didn't  _always_ live up the Scottish stereotypes but when it came to spending money, he was the living embodiment. Unsurprisingly, he didn't have anything to say to her argument. 

Moderately cowed, he modulated his tone. "And this change order. How long until we could actually move?"

Jemma shrugged. "If we submit the order today, we could probably move within the week? It will depend on availability, if we want to stay in SHIELD housing."

Fitz heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "A week?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the floor for a moment. Then he sighed again and nodded to himself. "I'll go see if the sofa is a pull out," he said, resigned to his fate. 

"I'll get started on the application." She followed Fitz back out to the living room. "What should we put as our reason for wanting a second bedroom?"

Fitz shrugged helplessly. "We're waiting for marriage?" he hazarded. 

Jemma rolled her eyes. "After all of our subterfuge back in first year? Everyone at the Academy thinks we've been sleeping together for years. It'd be more believable to say we wanted a _nursery_."

"A  _what_?"

The blood ran out of his face so fast that Jemma was worried that he might faint. 

"How about we say we want a guest room for when our family visit?" she suggested in a more mollifying tone.

Fitz's colour came back almost immediately and he looked much steadier on his feet. He grinned. "Brilliant. That'll work a treat."

As he set about pulling the cushions off the couch, Jemma whispered under her breath, "I  _hope_ so."


	9. Chapter 9

_We'd been living together for over six months by the time we got engaged._

* * *

 

Fitz was trying hard not to nod off as the speeches wore on. This was why he hated going to galas. You had to dress up in uncomfortable clothing, sit in stiff backed chairs eating food that was so fancy it was unidentifiable, and spend your evening listening to speech after speech delivered by the Mutual Appreciation Society. 

At least this one was at a restaurant instead of a university's dining room. The food was better quality. 

As his eyes started to close, Jemma nudged him with her elbow. He nodded his thanks and tried to focus in. Just another hour or so til they were free. 

Oh god. Another  _hour_ or so til they were free. 

Sitting up a bit straighter in his chair, Fitz started looking around the restaurant, hoping that someone out there was having a horrible breakup and would make a scene. Something, anything to wake him up and help him get through this. 

He ended up seeing the opposite. 

At a corner table, just off to Fitz's left, a young man stood up and then got down on one knee. The woman he was with let out a small yelp and then covered her mouth with both hands. He couldn't tell exactly what words were being said, but the scene was straight out of a movie. He was proposing. 

He had a lot of guts to do it in a restaurant full of people! Fitz was impressed. 

The woman was crying now, but she threw her arms around him. That was about as clear a yes as he'd ever seen. The tables around them broke into spontaneous applause. 

Fitz smiled. Well, that had been an interesting five minutes. 

But then the maitre d' came over with a small menu. Fitz squinted. He couldn't tell what was happening. Probably offering them wine or champagne to celebrate, he concluded. 

Zoning back into the speeches, he joined the smattering of applause for the speaker and then drew in a deep breath only to sigh it out when another speaker was introduced. 

When he looked back over at the couple, they were sharing the largest piece of chocolate cake he'd ever seen. 

* * *

 

"Why did you want to come back here?" Jemma asked after the maitre d' had pushed in her chair and left them with their menus. "I figured after last night you'd want to avoid the place like the plague."

Fitz grinned and looked around, leaning in conspiratorially. "They've got this utterly  _massive_ chocolate cake that's $50 a slice."

Jemma blinked at him in shock. "And you want to  _buy_ it?" she asked incredulously. "You. Want to pay $50 for a slice of cake."

Fitz's grin was nearing Cheshire cat levels now. "That's the beauty of it. We don't  _have_ to buy it because they'll give it to us for free!"

"What?"

Their waiter came by for their drinks and appetizers order and to refill their water glasses. Fitz caught his eye and patted his jacket pocket, and he nodded and winked before leaving. 

"Fitz?" Jemma narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"When we were here last night, I saw this bloke propose to his girlfriend and after she said yes, they brought out this cake."

Jemma's eyes narrowed even more. "And?"

"And so I went online after we got back to the hotel and I looked it up. They give you the cake  _free_ when you get engaged here!  _Free_ , Jemma!"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was clear what Fitz was up to and yet she couldn't quite believe he'd go to these lengths for a dessert. 

"Do you mean to tell me," she asked slowly. "That you've brought me here in order to fake propose to me so that you can get a free piece of chocolate cake."

He sat up straighter in his chair, smoothing his tie down his chest and nodding proudly. "Yup."

"Oh god."

"C'mon, please?"

"Fitz, really?"

"We're 500 miles from home. No one we know is here. What's the harm?"

Jemma sighed as Fitz gave her the puppy dog eyes. The man was insane. Proposing for the sake of free cake?

"It had  _better_ be delicious," she warned. "And you can't hog the whole thing, either."

"I won't."

" _And_ I expect you to say something nice about me, else I won't say yes."

He looked hurt at that. "You'd embarrass me like that?"

" _You're_ the one who's proposing marriage to me in the middle of a restaurant in front of a hundred strangers," she pointed out. 

He sighed and nodded. "Fair point."

The waiter came back again and took their orders. After sitting in silence for another moment, Jemma's curiosity got the better of her. 

"Do you have a ring?"

Fitz snorted. "Of  _course_ I've got a ring. What do you take me for?"

Jemma was about to compliment him when he continued. 

"It only cost me $5, too. Kids' jewellery looks pretty real these days."

Thankfully their salads arrived, interrupting Jemma's plans for murder. 

The meal was lovely, and they spent it talking about other things. By the time they were finished, she'd almost forgotten Fitz's plan. Then he got up. 

"Oh god," she whispered.

She looked around as other diners started to pay attention. This was nerve-wracking. Why on  _earth_ would anyone propose this way? This was horrible. She was going to make it clear to every boyfriend for the rest of her life that this was  _not_ a good way to propose. 

Fitz took one knee and fished the small box out of his pocket. It wasn't velvet, but it did look pretty nice for one from the dollar store. 

"Jemma Simmons," he said seriously. More so than the moment warranted, really, because he was trying so hard to keep a straight face. "You've been my partner in everything since we were 17 years old. Will you be my partner in everything for the rest of my life?"

He felt a surprising hitch in his chest when he said it. He might not want to  _marry_ her, but he definitely wanted to stay partners with her forever. He'd just never noticed the 'forever' bit before. 

Jemma was surprised to feel tears spring into her eyes. She wasn't  _that_ mortified, was she? And really, as far as proposals went, it wasn't all that romantic but it did seem heartfelt. She had to give him that much. 

Fitz coughed awkwardly and raised his eyebrows and Jemma realized she hadn't yet answered his question. Speaking of mortifying!

"Yes!" she blurted out once she realized. It sounded more surprised and less loving, but at least it was an affirmative?

The people around them clapped and she bent down a bit awkwardly to give Fitz a kiss. He slipped the ring onto her left hand, and she had to admit it. Kids' rings were looking very real these days. 

After the first bite of chocolate cake, any regrets Jemma might have had were wiped clean. 

"Oh my god!" she moaned as it practically melted in her mouth. 

"Totally worth it," Fitz agreed. 


	10. Chapter 10

Jemma was a big giggly by the time they got back to their hotel. The restaurant had provided sparkling wine to accompany their dessert, and she'd had her fair share of it. 

"I can't believe it," she laughed for the dozenth time as they approached the front desk to see if they had any messages. 

"Ma'am?" asked the clerk politely. 

"Fitz  _proposed_!" Jemma laughed, lifting up her ring-clad left hand and wiggling her fingers. "Didn't see it coming, at all! He just planned it all out and then  _did_ it, and next thing I know we have chocolate cake!"

For his part, Fitz was snickering into his hand and hiccuping quietly. "Don't forget the bubbly!" he prompted. 

"That's right! There was champagne as well!" Jemma smiled at the desk clerk and shook her head. "You could have knocked me over with a feather when he said it, but it turned out alright in the end, yeah?"

Despite herself the clerk grinned. She'd had to deal with any number of inebriated guests in her day, but at least these two were giddy instead of just godawful. 

"Congratulations," she said, handing over their messages. As they flipped through them, she waved her manager over for a quick conversation. 

"Check out time is eleven, isn't it?" Jemma asked, squinting a bit blearily at the sign on the desk. She didn't want to get charged for an extra day. "Can we book a taxi for the airport at 11:15?"

"Of course," the clerk smiled. "And in thanks for your stay here and to celebrate your good news, the  _Tromperie_ Hotel and Resort would like to offer you an upgrade to the Honeymoon Suite for the last night of your stay."

Jemma blinked. "You'd like to what?" she asked, completely dumbfounded. 

"Fantastic!" Fitz chimed in behind her. "Do we do our own luggage, or...?"

"We'll take care of it for you," the clerk smiled." She waved a porter over for instructions and then turned back to the couple in front of her. 

"I'm sorry," Jemma frowned. "Did you just say you're giving us the  _honeymoon suite_ because we got engaged?"

The clerk nodded. "And while you wait for your things to be moved, please follow Philippe to the hotel restaurant. I understand you have just finished your dinner-"

"Not a problem," Fitz interrupted. He patted his stomach. "Always room for a bit more."

For her part, Jemma was regretting that third glass of wine. How was this even possible? 

* * *

 

Fitz opted for an ice cream sundae and Jemma just settled for tea as the hotel moved their things from their adjoining rooms to the honeymoon suite. 

She sort of felt like she should protest more, but when Fitz pulled up photos from the hotel's website, all of her protests died at the sight of the jacuzzi bathtub. She was going to get into that tub as soon as possible, and she might never get out. 

When they got up to the room, it was a sight to behold. The pictures hadn't done it justice. It was on the top floor and had ten foot ceilings. There were crown moldings and painted plaster walls. It felt like something out of a Renaissance painting rather than a room in a hotel they'd booked for a convention. 

"Look at this!" Fitz grinned, rushing over to the coffee table in the middle of the living room. There was a living room. There was a dining room with a small kitchen as well, and double doors leading to what Jemma presumed was the bedroom. 

Walking over slowly, she watched Fitz unwrap a beautiful gift basket.  _Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials._ The back side of the card had information on booking the hotel for weddings. 

"Ah, that explains it," she chuckled. 

"It goes on forever!" Fitz said as he pulled item after item out of the basket. There were lotions and creams, chocolates and cookies. Pastries from a local bakery and a set of stationery from another local vendor. As he dug through it all, Jemma noticed a theme: everything you might possibly need to plan a wedding. 

They were smart. 

"How on earth are we meant to take all of that on the plane?" she asked helplessly. Both the table and the floor were littered with goods. "I haven't enough space in my luggage, have you?"

Fitz had a box of cookies in each hand. He looked at her as if she were mad. "I'll  _make_ room," he promised. 

Jemma shook her head. "I'll leave you to figure this out. I'm for that bath." Her expression was dreamy, just thinking about it. 

"Let me in for a piss first."

Not even that could ruin the moment for her. 

* * *

 

One epic-length bath later, Jemma wrapped herself in a fluffy hotel robe. Fitz was wearing one too as he sat on the living room sofa watching telly. 

"We should do this every time we stay at a hotel," he decided as she sat down beside him. 

"Right," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "And you should propose every time we go to a nice restaurant."

"I was thinking just the same thing."

Jemma sighed and snagged a biscuit from the open packet. "We'll discuss it later," she said. Code for 'we're never speaking of this again.'

"It's not like we  _asked_ for any of this free kit," Fitz pointed out reasonably. "We just pretended we were engaged. They did the rest on their own."

"Still."

Fitz shrugged. "Pout if you like," he said. "But that bed is larger than my entire _dorm room_ back at the Academy. I regret nothing."

The corner of Jemma's mouth twitched. He wasn't wrong. She glanced at him sidelong and soon the both of them were a mass of giggles again. 

"Jump on the mattress?" Fitz suggested. 

"Race you!" Jemma agreed. 

Fitz won, but only because he'd thrown a pillow in her face right at the start. 


	11. Chapter 11

_The funny thing about families is that they make assumptions that might or might not be true..._

* * *

 

"But I thought you were living together?" 

Jemma couldn't exactly say no to that, but at the same time she couldn't really say yes either. 

"We're roommates," she explained. 

Her sister gave her a flat look, one eyebrow raised. "Isn't this the same guy you spent a night in the honeymoon suite with last month?"

" _Technically_ , yes," Jemma hedged. She shifted from one foot to the other. 

Her sister Valerie had arrived on their doorstep with no notice at all, telling Jemma that she wanted to stay in their guest room while she toured Georgetown University. Hotels in Washington, DC weren't exactly cheap, and she knew for a fact that Jemma and Fitz had a two bedroom apartment. Problem solved, right?

"Then what's the problem?" She flounced into the living room, leaving her duffel by the door, and dropped onto the sofa. "It's not like mum and dad don't know already."

"Know what?" Jemma asked. She moved over to the living room with a sense of impending dread. 

"That you and Fitz are an item."

"An item," Jemma repeated dumbly. She sat down on the coffee table when her knees gave out. 

Valerie rolled her eyes. "You know how mum talks. Anyway, it's not like I'm going to report back anything they don't know. As long as you two can avoid the raucous sex for the three days I'm here, we'll be fine."

"Raucous..." Jemma didn't know  _what_ to say to that. 

She hadn't even recovered yet when Fitz got home. 

"Planning a trip?" he asked as he nearly tripped on the duffel bag in the front hall. As he got further into their apartment, he saw Jemma's sister on the sofa. "Valerie!" he waved with a grin. "Didn't know you were coming for a visit. How are you?"

"Good," Valerie replied. She gave Fitz a big, flirtatious smile and leaned over the side of the sofa towards him. " _Really_ good. I'm visiting schools and Jemma was just saying I could stay in your guest room for the weekend."

Fitz paused mid-step before continuing. He glanced over at Jemma who seemed a bit shell-shocked and then looked back at Valerie. "What guest room?" he asked. 

Valerie rolled her eyes and sighed, flopping back onto the sofa cushion. "Not you, too," she complained. "We all  _know_ you two are shacking up, alright? No one's offended. Zero pearls are being clutched, I promise you."

Fitz looked from Valerie to Jemma, neither woman appearing very happy. 

"Uhh, Jemma? A word?" He jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen. He waited for her to stand up and led the way to the other room.  " _What_ the  _hell_?" he whispered harshly. 

"I don't know!" Jemma whispered back. "She just showed up, claimed our guest room, and told me not to have raucous sex with you."

Fitz's mouth dropped open and his hand froze mid-gesture. He stared for a second, then turned to look through the serving hatch at where Valerie was flipping channels on the telly. 

"Not to  _what_?" he asked weakly. 

But Jemma was already moving on. "I know it's crazy," she said calmly. "But SHIELD only posted us together and gave us this apartment because we said we were together. We told them  _specifically_ that we needed a second bedroom for family to come visit." Biting her lower lip, she shrugged. "Unless we want to be caught out lying to our superiors, I think we sort of have to..." She looked through the serving hatch as well. 

Fitz closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I  _told_ you this was going to cause us problems," he muttered. In fact, he was fairly certain he'd mentioned that before now. 

Jemma stood up a bit straighter and folded her arms across her chest. "Yes, well. Part of her proof was that trip to the honeymoon suite we took last month, and who was to blame for  _that_ one?"

"Hey!" Fitz whispered sharply, pointing an indignant finger at her. "You weren't exactly  _unwilling_ there, missy!"

Jemma scoffed.

"Need I remind you how long you were  _swimming_ in that jacuzzi?"

She blushed and gave in. "Alright,  _fine_. But now we need to make it look as if we're actually living together instead of just living in the same apartment."

Fitz knew he'd been best friends with her for too long when that made complete sense to him. 

Resting his hands on his lower back, he looked down at his shoes for a moment. They'd got themselves into this mess. He sighed. They'd just have to power through. 

"Look. You... take her out for dinner or something, and I'll move some of your stuff into my room."

" _Your_ room?" She frowned at that assumption.

Fitz snorted. "Between the two of us, which one has the room that looks more like a guest room?" He raised an eyebrow and Jemma nodded gracelessly. "That's what I thought. So you two go out somewhere and I'll move things about and when you come back we'll have a guest room she can stay in for the weekend."

Jemma smiled gratefully and reached out to give his arm a squeeze. "Thanks, Fitz. I really app-"

"You can kiss him, you know," Valerie called from the other room. It was her turn to look through the serving hatch at them. "I don't mind that bit. Just so long as you keep the sex down to a dull roar."

Fitz's face turned a dull purple and a little vein made an appearance above his left temple. "Jemma?"

"On it." She patted his arm and returned to the front hall to grab her purse. "C'mon, Valerie. Let's go catch up over dinner. Fitz is going to be a dear and get your room set up for you."


	12. Chapter 12

After Jemma and Valerie left for dinner, Fitz went into Jemma's room and just stood there for a minute. Even knowing that he had her full permission to do it, he felt strange moving her things. He knew how she arranged and organized everything just so. It felt like a breach of trust to go barging in and mucking it all up. 

Still, as needs must right?

Taking in a deep breath and blowing it out in a sigh, he rolled up his sleeves and got started. 

The easiest step was taking Jemma's clothes from her closet, still on their hangers, and moving them into his. It was a tight squeeze, but he just grabbed a handful of his own things and threw them over the back of his chair. No one would care that much if he wore a wrinkly shirt to work in the morning after all. 

He opened up the drawers of his dresser and made a face. Not a lot of space here, either. Certainly not enough for an entire other person's wardrobe. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he made a sucking noise between his teeth and pondered. Then he sighed again. He had some plastic bins in their storage locker. He'd just bring one of those up to dump his kit in for the next few days and free up some drawer space for Jemma's whatnot. 

It was a bit of a struggle and there were far too many spiders in the basement storage lockers of their building, but he managed to get a large bin back up to his room without  _too_ much swearing. He was too annoyed to care overmuch about keeping his things neat, so he just pulled out one drawer after the other and dumped them unceremoniously into a heap on top of each other. After snapping the lid on, he returned to Jemma's room and grabbed her top dresser drawer. 

He blushed immediately. If he'd been paying attention to what he was doing (or really given it much thought at all), he would have realized that Jemma had a drawer full of...  _underthings_. He tried not to look at any of them as he pulled the drawer all the way out and brought it to his room. It seemed a bit rude to just dump them all into his dresser, but it felt even ruder to touch them all. In the end, he took a halfway measure and did his best to slide them over the back of her drawer and into his. They got a bit disarranged, but weren't too poorly handled. He hoped?

The other two drawers were much less trouble since they were just regular clothing. He was almost cheerful as he moved them, just because it was so much less awkward. 

Clothes done, he returned to her room and gathered up some hair and makeup things, her jewellery box, and various other odds and ends he thought she'd miss if she didn't have them with her. Not to mention things that Valerie would think were odd if they were in the guest room instead of where Jemma actually slept. He moved the lot of it back to his room using the convenient carry tray that was an empty dresser drawer, and he did his best to arrange them on the top of his dresser in a way similar to how Jemma had had them in her room. It was a hopeless cause, but he tried his best. 

Job done, he went to the fridge in search of some dinner. He'd certainly earned it!

* * *

 

"We've brought you back some leftovers!" Jemma announced as she and Valerie returned home. In truth, she'd ordered an entire meal as a takeaway, including a dessert, because she felt so horrible about the entire situation. 

Valerie snorted and bounced into the living room where Fitz was watching telly. "It's more than just leftovers," she told him, looking back over her shoulder at her older sister. "She got you a _double order_ of spaghetti with  _extra_ meatballs  _and_ a massive piece of chocolate cake." Looking back at Fitz, she made a kissy face. "She  _loooooves_ you."

Fitz blushed but laughed at Valerie's tone. Jemma just rolled her eyes indulgently. 

"Yes, yes," she said dismissively. "He's my heart and soul and home, etc."

"You forgot 'dream come true' and 'perfect match'," Fitz added helpfully. 

"I suppose I could just say 'soul mate' and be done with it," Jemma suggested, wrinkling her nose and grinning. She'd dropped the food in the kitchen on her way in, and now she moved into the living room to sit next to Fitz.

Valerie sighed dramatically, but she was smiling nonetheless. "I really  _am_ glad you two finally got together," she said sincerely. "It  _should_ have happened at the Academy, but if you had to wait at least you waited til you had a nice apartment."

Fitz grinned. Time for some fun. "Didn't Jemma tell you?" he asked. His voice was full of hurt surprise and his eyebrows knit together in a very good impression of someone who was mildly upset. "We  _did_ date back at the Academy. Twice, actually."

Valerie stared at Fitz and then turned to glare at Jemma. "Why am I just hearing about this now?" she asked indignantly. 

Jemma groaned, one hand on each side of her neck. "Oh, Fitz!"

"Am I lying?" he grinned. 

She blew out an annoyed breath. "Not  _technically_ ," she admitted. "But-"

"Tell me everything!" Valerie said. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, wanting all of the details. 

"Yeah, Jemma. Tell her everything," Fitz said as he stood up. "I think I'm going to investigate this spaghetti situation you were talking about. Sounds a sight better than the sandwich I made."

As he moved into the kitchen, he grinned to himself. With one ear open to how Jemma explained their Academy shenanigans, he set about eating his second dinner. 


	13. Chapter 13

"-could barely get the words out, the  _lamb_ ," Jemma said with a saccharine sweet sort of fondness. She looked from Valerie over to Fitz who was stuffing his face in the kitchen and hadn't quite heard that part. Revenge might be a dish best served cold, but he'd heated his pasta in the microwave and allowed her a chance to tell her own version of the story. 

"That's  _adorable_!" Valerie said with a distinct  _aww_ in her voice. "And of  _course_ you had to say yes!"

"Of course!" Jemma agreed. "He was looking at me with those pleading, puppy dog eyes. It would have been cruel to turn him down."

Valerie nodded and sighed with a happy smile on her face. Then she blinked. Her brows drew together in consternation and she sat up straight from where she'd been bent over with her chin cradled in her hands. 

"Wait a second. You two weren't actually together back then. You said so already. So what happened?"

Fitz emerged from the kitchen to sit at the table in their little dinette area. He looked expectantly at Jemma, and she had to revert to a closer telling of the truth. 

With a shrug and a smile, she gave the abbreviated version. "It was all too distracting and it started affecting our grades, so we called it quits until after we were done school."

Valerie whistled and leaned back in her seat. "Wow. You absolute  _nerds_." She shook her head and laughed with disbelief. "You had a thing that was so hot  _you_ were getting bad grades, and you thought the thing to do was to  _stop_ it?" She shook her head again. "For a couple of geniuses, you really are idiots."

Fitz choked on a meatball at the same time that Jemma protested, "Hey!"

Standing up with a look of concern, she moved over to pat Fitz's back for him and help him clear his airway while simultaneously looking at her sister with an expression of hurt. "There's no call to be hurtful," she pouted. 

Valerie rolled her eyes. She also got up and moved over to Fitz. Grabbing his glass from the table, she walked through to the kitchen to get him some more water. "I'm just  _saying_ , if  _I_ found someone I found that 'distracting,' I wouldn't give them up for a grade."

Jemma sniffed and stood up a bit straighter. "Yes, well," she said haughtily. "You and I have different priorities."

"You're certainly right there," Valerie agreed. She handed Fitz his glass and he drank it down quickly. "Are you finished dying now?" she asked with a grin. 

"For the moment," he rasped back. "But maybe we can talk about something  _other_ than Jemma's and my relationship now?"

"Alright, alright," Valerie relented. "Where did you put my things? You can help me look through the Georgetown tour packet and decide what I want to do tomorrow."

* * *

 

It was a bit awkward getting ready for bed. They couldn't exactly take turns changing clothes in the bathroom without Valerie getting curious, so they did the only other thing they could think of. They took turns waiting in the bedroom closet for the other one to finish getting changed. It was a bit crowded with all of the extra clothing in there, but they managed it. They just couldn't close the door. 

Finally alone for the first time since Valerie had appeared unexpectedly, they got into bed on their respective sides and just stared at the ceiling for a moment. 

Fitz was the first one to break the silence. "Your sister is really invested in us being a couple," he observed dryly. 

"You don't know the half of it," Jemma agreed with a chuckle. "She was practically  _interrogating_ me over dinner. It was only my SHIELD training that kept me from spilling everything."

He had to laugh at that. "Perhaps we should recommend her for the Ops program," he joked. 

Jemma groaned through her grin. "Don't even  _suggest_ that. She'd love it!"

They relaxed into a companionable silence once more. 

"Bed's not as big as in the honeymoon suite," Fitz observed with a gentle clearing of his throat.

That one had been somewhat larger than a king. They'd both had all the room they could have wanted and then some, and they hadn't so much as bumped into each other rolling over for the whole night. 

 _His_ bed, however, was a double. There was space enough for the both of them, but any rolling this way and that would end up with some... contact. 

"I noticed that, yes," Jemma answered. She was biting her lip and trying not to feel too strange about the situation. Still, it wasn't every night she shared a bed with her best friend, now was it?

"At least neither of  us snore?" 

Humour. That made awkward situations less awkward, didn't it?

"I don't?" Jemma asked, turning to look at him with a pleased smile. "I didn't actually know for sure."

"If you do, I didn't hear it."

"You as well."

"Good."

"Good."

They both rolled back over onto their backs and after a brief pause, Jemma said, "Well..."

"Mmhmm."

"Alarm for 7:00?"

"Sure."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Reaching out an arm, Fitz hit the switch on his bedside lamp. Then it was all quiet and darkness. 


	14. Chapter 14

Jemma woke up to the noises of wet breathing and frowned even before she opened her eyes. Yawning out her wakefulness, she sniffed and blinked open her blurry eyes. 

She blinked again. Then she swiped at her eyes. 

Oh right. Valerie was here and using her bed, and she was kipping down with Fitz. 

He was the source of the wet breathing noises. He was rolled 3/4 of the way onto his stomach with his cheek pressed into his pillow. His hair was a wild mess all sticking out in different directions, and his mouth was open. He was drooling slightly. 

Ah yes. The man of her dreams. Clearly. 

She tossed off her blankets and got out of bed, grabbing her housecoat from the floor. It had been on the end of the bed the night before, but Fitz had kicked his feet free of the blankets and her housecoat had been knocked off of the bed in his struggle. 

Shaking her head and chuckling, she glanced at him fondly before going out into the hallway and closing the door behind her. 

* * *

 

Fitz woke up with a snort and swiped a hand across his mouth as he rolled onto his back. Smacking his lips together, he made a face at his morning breath. Then he yawned and stretched out all of his limbs. 

After collapsing back into a vaguely humanoid shape, he rolled back onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow. Getting up was the  _worst_. Why did mornings even need to exist, anyway? Time was simply a way for three dimensional beings to understand the fourth dimension. It was only socially-imposed understandings based on pre-industrialized needs with respect to light that made it "normal" for people to be awake during daylight hours. There was no reason in this modern day and age why anyone should have to wake up before noon. 

His usual internal morning rant petered out as his brows drew together. Something was definitely off. 

First of all, his alarm wasn't blaring at him. Had he forgot to set it? If he were oversleeping right now, Jemma would be pounding on the door and nagging him about making her late for work. 

Must be Saturday. 

But also, the mattress was warm? And his pillow smelled nice? And-

Oh, right. Jemma's sister had parachuted in out of nowhere and claimed her bed. It was all coming back now. 

Groaning out a sigh, Fitz rolled over twice so that he fell out of bed and onto his feet. That was the easiest way to get started first thing. Scratching his stomach with one hand and running the other through his hair, he padded out into the hallway. 

"Mo'ing," he yawned, waving at both women on his way into the bathroom. They were staring. Had they never seen a bloke first thing in the morning before?

Well, maybe Valerie hadn't. She was only 18, after all. Jemma surely had, though. She'd dated enough. 

* * *

 

"Thanks for being quiet last night," Valerie said as she dug into her plateful of scrambled eggs. 

"What do you mean?" Jemma asked. She took a sip of her tea and nearly choked at her sister's answers. 

"When you had sex."

Sputtering and trying to wipe up the bit of tea that had dripped onto her chin, Jemma shook her head. "We didn't!"

Valerie looked at her flatly. "Really?" Her tone  _dripped_ with skepticism. 

Jemma rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, it  _is_ possible to spend a night with Fitz and not have sex with him." She'd lost count of the number of times she'd managed it. In fact, she'd never once  _not_ not had sex with Fitz while spending the night with him. It was pretty much a certainty that no sex would happen.

Not that she could explain that to her sister, of course. 

"Yeah, but you guys are together!" Valerie protested. "And you  _live_ together! That means you can have sex whenever you want!"

Jemma shrugged. "We didn't want," she replied simply. 

"But-"

Before Valerie could protest further, Fitz slouched out of his room looking even more unkempt than he had when Jemma had left him. He waved vaguely in greeting and then went into the bathroom where he let out a loud groan that left them both thankful they couldn't hear whatever came after it. 

Valerie looked supremely disappointed as she turned back to her big sister. 

"I see what you mean."

Jemma sat up a bit straighter and put her tea down on the table. It was all fine for  _her_ to bag on Fitz but that didn't mean her sister could, too. 

"And  _you're_ a stunning beauty when you first wake up, are you?" she asked pointedly. 

Valerie grinned. "Someone's feeling protective," she sang in that annoying way of younger siblings everywhere. 

"I'm just asserting that Fitz is far more attractive after he's woken up than he is when he's just rolled out of bed moments before."

"Uh huh."

"And just because we elected not to have sex  _when my sister was sleeping in the next room_ -" She glared at Valerie before continuing. "Doesn't mean that we don't engage in an active and fulfilling sex life when you're not here."

Of course they  _didn't_ do that, but Valerie didn't know that.

"Oh, sure. Of course."

"I'll have you know that Fitz is an excellent lover," Jemma continued. This happened sometimes when she was lying. She kept going on well past the point of necessity and ended up in regions where all sense had been left far behind. "And he's very well-endowed."

"Oh  _really_?" Valerie's grin was almost splitting her face in two at this point. "I'll tell him you said so."

Fitz reappeared from the bathroom before Jemma could threaten her with murder. His hair was combed and he looked more like a person than a shuffling zombie. 

"Tell me you said what?" he asked as he walked past them and into the kitchen. "Kettle still warm?"

"Just boiled a few minutes ago," Jemma called through the serving gap. All the while she was glaring daggers at her sister and shaking her head vehemently. 

"Ta." Fitz lifted his mug in thanks as he shuffled back to the table and sat down. He grabbed a piece of toast from Valerie's plate and grinned when she smacked him. He owed her that much at least for stealing Jemma's bed out from under her. "So tell me what?"

Valerie looked from him to her sister and back. 

"Jemma was just telling me how good you are in bed."

Fitz blinked. Then he looked down at his mug as if it might suddenly reveal that his tea was actually some sort of hallucinogen. Then he stood up. 

"Right. I'll just leave you two to it then, shall I? he asked rhetorically. 

Shoving the slice of toast into his mouth, he turned and walked back to his bedroom. It was too early in the day to be dealing with this. 


	15. Chapter 15

"This is my sister Jemma and her boyfriend Fitz."

Fitz wrinkled his nose up and smiled insincerely as he shook hands with yet another person. They were on a campus tour with Valerie, and she'd introduced them like that to at least a dozen people so far. Possibly more. He'd lost count. 

"Nice to meet you both. And welcome to Georgetown University!"

"Go Hoyas," Fitz muttered under his breath. He'd heard it from every overly-peppy, school spirited person they'd spoken with that day. 

Jemma smacked him lightly on the arm and tried to look interested in what their latest guide was telling them. It was difficult, however. She was too distracted by her parents' constant texts and requests for photos of Valerie in various locations. 

Really, they should have just come with her!

When she suggested as much, her mother had been confused. Apparently, Valerie had convinced them that Jemma had wanted them to have a "sisters weekend" or some such, and they'd agreed that she could visit on her own. 

It was unfair how Valerie was so much better at lying than she was. 

After getting photos of her under the cherry trees in the quad, they continued on to their next destination. 

"How many hours is this?" Fitz whispered as Valerie and their guide chatted ahead of them. 

Jemma looked at her watch. "Four," she answered miserably. 

"I'm going to need a  _lot_ more than some spaghetti as recompense for  _this_ one."

* * *

Fitz collapsed into bed next to Jemma with a groan and a squeak of the bedsprings. It had been a  _long_ day. 

"You know if she ends up going to school here, we're going to have to pretend we're together for four entire years, don't you?" he asked Jemma pointedly. He was trying to keep his voice down because Valerie was asleep in the next room over, but it was difficult after a day like he'd had. 

Jemma scoffed. "Hardly."

Fitz shifted so quickly to look at her that the bed frame actually moved on the floor. "You have  _met_ her, haven't you?" he whispered incredulously. "It's not like she's going to give up on the whole thing. She called me your boyfriend fifteen times at least!"

"Twenty-three by my count," Jemma acknowledged with a sigh. "But she's going to be busy with school! She won't pay any attention to us at all!" She chuckled indulgently and shook her head. As if her sister wouldn't have better things to do as a university student than think about the two of them dating. 

Then she froze as she thought things through a bit more. Her parents knew she had a spare bedroom in her apartment. International tuition was extremely expensive. Valerie would need  _some_ sort of oversight while living in a foreign country.

"Oh my god!" she blurted. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth. The last thing she needed was Valerie overhearing this conversation. "My parents are going to want her to move in here with us," she whispered, utterly horrified. 

"What?" Fitz whisper-shouted. "I was just thinking she'd visit a lot. They'd want her to  _live_ here?"

There wasn't enough spaghetti in the  _world_ to deal with that! 

Jemma shrugged helplessly. "I can't say for sure, but I'd be surprised if they didn't at least suggest it."

"Oh _god_ ," Fitz groaned. This weekend was bad enough, but four  _years_ of sharing a bedroom with Jemma? She might be his best friend, but that was pushing it. A man needed privacy sometimes, after all. 

"Maybe we can think of a reason why she can't live with us?" Jemma suggested hopefully. 

Fitz scrubbed a hand down his face and groaned again. "Like what?" he whispered sarcastically. "We need the second bedroom for a nursery?"

It felt good to give Jemma a taste of her own medicine with that one. She looked as sick at the idea as he had six months before. 

"Perhaps she'll want to live on campus?" Jemma tried, her voice a bit desperate. Then her face fell even further. "Although campus accommodations are rather expensive."

This time, Fitz's groan was even louder than the last. 

A thumping noise came from the other side of the wall. "I  _said_ keep the sex _quiet_!" she shouted over from Jemma's room. 

Fitz glared at Jemma, teeth clenched and nostrils flaring. She looked back at him helplessly and mouthed, "I'm sorry."

Covering his face with a pillow to muffle the noise, Fitz groaned out one last time. 

* * *

By the end of the weekend, their relationship was at a snapping point. They were bickering in whispers behind every door while trying to play 'happy couple' any time that Valerie could see them together. 

It was  _exhausting_. 

As Jemma and Valerie said their goodbyes, Fitz carried Valerie's duffel down to the curb and put it in the taxi, then waited on the sidewalk until they joined him. 

"Bye, Fitz!" Valerie said, giving him a big hug. While she was there, she whispered in his ear. "If you hurt my sister, I'll fly back over here and kill you myself."

He blinked, frozen, as she pulled back with a wide smile. 

"Thanks again for letting me stay with you both!"

He stared after the taxi as it pulled away, Jemma waving happily next to him. 

Two months later, Valerie informed them that she'd decided to go to St. Andrews in Scotland instead. 

It was the best news Fitz had ever heard in his life. 

 


	16. Chapter 16

_The strangest thing about dating a coworker with your organization's full awareness and approval is that sometimes your boss wants you to give people relationship advice?_

* * *

As much as they were posted together,  _living_ together, because SHIELD thought that they were a couple, it wasn't something that either Fitz or Jemma thought about on any sort of regular basis. If no one brought it up, they tended to forget about it entirely. Small incidents like her sister visiting were few and far between, so they were able to live their lives as best friends and roommates who also happened to work together. 

And then they were reminded of their situation. 

"Fitz. Simmons."

Jemma looked up from her microscope as Fitz wandered over next to her. It was their lead agent here at Sci-Ops. Agent DeVilliers didn't often come to their lab for a casual chat. This was probably some sort of new assignment. Jemma couldn't help hoping it was a chance to go into the field. Fitz couldn't help hoping the exact opposite. 

"Agent DeVilliers." Fitz gave her a slight nod in greeting. 

"What can we do for you?" Jemma asked with a smile. 

DeVilliers' expression flickered for a moment before returning to her usual impassive, neutral almost-smile. "I'm sure you know already that I think the two of you are a very strong team."

Jemma looked over at Fitz who was already looking at her.  _That_ was an interesting opening statement. While it was true, it wasn't something that she'd ever really given much consideration to. She and Fitz worked well together. Everyone knew that. She wondered where this was going.

"Yes?" she answered uncertainly, turning back to look at her boss. 

"You're well-known in the entire division as a very strong pairing. You work better together than almost any other team I could think of in SHIELD."

Jemma blushed and Fitz stood up a bit straighter. "You don't say?" he grinned a bit cockily. Not that he wanted to brag or anything, but he knew for a fact that he and Jemma had a better efficiency rating for their lab than any other team in the division. They'd also analyzed a record number of 0-8-4s for their time with SHIELD. A record he had every expectation they'd keep breaking. 

"I wouldn't normally ask this," DeVilliers continued. "I firmly believe that what my agents do when they're not on the clock is their business."

Fitz frowned and looked over at Jemma. What were they doing when they were off the clock that was relevant to their jobs?

DeVilliers' stance shifted ever so slightly and suddenly she seemed uncertain. Awkward even. Fitz and Jemma looked at each other again, nerves flaring up. Suddenly this visit didn't feel like a recognition or reward. Was it going to be a dressing down over something? What was happening?

"Ask what?" Jemma prompted when she paused. 

"I was wondering if the two of you might be willing to host a small seminar on how to work together while also being romantically involved."

DeVilliers _definitely_ looked awkward now. 

Fitz blinked. He'd bloody well _forgotten_ they were meant to be dating each other. And now not only were they dating each other, they were paragons of romantic success? 

"You-" He looked at Jemma and then back at Agent DeVilliers. " _What_?"

Jemma took it  _slightly_ more in stride. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin in an attempt to look professional. What she actually looked like was distinctly uncomfortable. Every time this aspect of their assignment reared its ugly head, she ended up owing Fitz a free dinner or some other compensation. She wondered what it might be _this_ time. 

"May I ask to what audience?" she asked. 

DeVilliers cleared her throat delicately and gave them a significant look. "To an audience of agents in a similar situation who are  _not_  stellar examples of how to maintain both a romantic and a professional relationship."

Fitz licked his suddenly dry lips. She wanted them to talk to  _other agents_ about how to date their coworkers? "So..." This was some sort of alternate universe. There was no other explanation for this happening. 

"I have a list of 16 attendees. The seminar with you will hopefully be enough to give them some tools to manage the two aspects of their relationships. If not, we'll most likely be mandating couples' therapy sessions."

Jemma didn't even know SHIELD  _did_ that. The only therapy she was aware of the organization providing was given after traumatic events. It was almost nice that they offered services to keep people happy as well?

"Is that a common practice?" she asked, genuinely curious. 

"More common than I'd like," DeVilliers admitted. "If it were up to me, we'd be more  _selective_ about which couples we post to the same units. This practice of allowing just anyone to fill in a form and get a rubber stamp leads to a lot more problems than solutions." She shook her head with a scowl then brightened up and smiled at them. "Of course, you're the shining example of what we  _hope_ to see happen for couples on assignment together. That's why we'd like you to provide these other couples with your expertise." 

Somehow, neither of them were exactly clear on how, they ended up agreeing to the madness. 

 


	17. Chapter 17

Jemma stared at her title slide and sighed. She really didn't know where to go from here. In fact, she didn't even fully understand how she'd got _here_ to begin with. It had all made so much sense back at the Academy, pretending they were dating to ensure that they were posted together. It had just gotten increasingly difficult ever since. 

Perhaps they should "break up" again? But then there'd be gossip and discussions with Agent DeVilliers about reassignment-

 _Reassignment_. They might be split up from each other! That wouldn't do. That wouldn't do  _at all_.

Shaking her head, she tried to refocus on her slides. 

Technically,  _slide_ , in the singular. 

She sighed again. 

"Are you planning on  _breathing_ your way through the presentation?" Fitz asked as he made the turn out of the kitchen. Walking over carefully, he held her tea out to her and took a sip of his own as he sat down. Then he gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll be alright, Jemma," he said with a soothing pat of her knee. "We've got through worse, after all."

Jemma chuckled ruefully. "Have we?" She was having trouble thinking of an example. 

Fitz grinned. "Need I remind you of Sally Webber, first year?" he teased. 

Jemma laughed and covered her face. "Oh, please don't!" she protested, still chuckling. With one more sigh, this one accompanied by a smile, she returned to the task at hand. 

"Alright. So. Where to begin?"

"I reckon we could put it all down on one slide and be done with it," Fitz shrugged. "Leave your relationship at home. Work is for working."

Jemma rolled her eyes. "Yes. Because  _that_ will go over like gangbusters. Besides, that's not what we do at all."

Fitz snorted. "That's because we don't  _have_ a relationship." 

"We have a  _friendship_ ," Jemma pointed out. "And that friendship is 100% present in the workplace. It's a good part of why we work so well together. Or at least  _I_ think it is."

Fitz sat back and took a contemplative sip of his tea. "I never really thought about it," he admitted with a touch of surprise in his voice. "But that really is true, isn't it?" His mouth turned down and he nodded as he processed the idea. "I get loads more work done with you than with anyone else because I don't have to spend half my energy being nice. I can just say it however it comes out and we can get on with it."

"I wouldn't  _mind_ if you decided to put some energy into being nice," she pointed out mildly. "But I agree. We both know that we value each other as people and as professionals and that we have the utmost respect for each other. Having an argument or using a sharp tone doesn't change that. It's just indicative of a difference of opinion or a moment of stress."

"Exactly!" Fitz agreed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He cradled his tea cup between both his hands. "And if I don't answer you when you're talking to me it's not because I'm ignoring you. I'm just focusing on my work and can't reply. If I even hear you at all!"

Jemma took a large sip of her tea and grinned with satisfaction. "Yes! This is  _just_ the sort of thing we can talk about in our presentation. Behaviours that are easily misinterpreted and how to look at them with a lens of the most charitable interpretation."

Fitz blinked. "I'm not entirely sure that I'd use _those_ words exactly," he said slowly. "But I think I see what you mean?"

Jemma nodded, half-listening, and typed for several minutes. She'd opened up a blank document and was using that as a dumping grounds for everything they'd discussed. At this point, she was mostly just getting their thoughts down on paper. She could organize and rephrase later, but during this first stage of brainstorming it was important not to lose any ideas. 

Fitz got up and went to get some biscuits. He'd worked with Jemma for long enough to know exactly what she was doing. By the time he returned with a few on a plate, she was just finishing up. 

"Jammy dodger?" he asked, offering them to her. 

"Ta," she smiled. She turned her laptop toward Fitz to let him read and edit as she ate her cookie and drank some of her now lukewarm tea. "How'd I do?" she asked when he came to the end. 

"Perfectly, of course," Fitz chuckled. He appreciated that she always had him check her work, but she so rarely made a mistake it wasn't often necessary. "What's next, do you think? How to have an argument without destroying the place?"

Jemma laughed. "I don't know that there have been any literal explosions recorded amongst these couples, but it's still a valid point." She took her laptop back and started a new heading. "So. How do we go about arguing?"

Fitz frowned, squinting a bit in thought. "Mostly we talk over each other and don't really listen all that much until and idea here or there penetrates and we get back to work," he shrugged. "Or at least, that's how it feels from my end."

Jemma tilted her head in consideration. "I can't say that's how I'd have explained it, myself," she said. "But... you're not wrong?" She frowned. "Seems a bit strange when you phrase it like that, though."

Fitz grabbed another biscuit from the plate. "Since when have we ever been normal?"

Jemma had to admit he had a point there. "Well, we can't exactly tell other people that as a piece of advice," she sighed. "So how do we turn it into something a bit more... approachable?"

Fitz slurped down the last of his tea and wiped his fingers off on his jeans. "Here, let me take a crack at it," he said, reaching out for the computer. 

She passed it over gratefully and returned to her tea. She wanted to finish it before it got completely cold. "Something along the lines of 'arguments are a natural part of working with someone who is passionate about what they do?'" she suggested. 

Fitz nodded and started typing. "And maybe we can suggest that if arguments are a pain point in their relationship that they should set up some boundaries or something?"

"Like how I don't call you-"

He looked up sharply and Jemma stopped before she actually said his first name. " _Exactly_ ," he said. 

Jemma pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Fitz's hatred of the name Leo was legendary. She only trotted it out when she actually wanted to annoy him. Most of their arguments weren't about hurting each other though, they were about conflicting ideas. 

"We should point out that arguments should focus on the ideas being discussed rather than on each others' quirks or on personal histories."

* * *

 

They kept on brainstorming for another hour. It went remarkably easily. When they actually thought about it, they wondered that anyone would need a seminar in this sort of thing at all. It was all such common sense!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to the commenters from Chapter 17 for inspiring a lot of this chapter, especially Jenni and trope reader! :)

As they finished up the last slide in their presentation, Fitz was feeling uncharacteristically optimistic. Considering the motley crew assembled in front of them, they'd managed to hold everyone's attention. Shocking, when you realized that there were at least 4 Ops agents in the room whose typical day probably included mixed martial arts, vehicular chases, and at least one other language. 

He turned to Jemma with a smile as she pulled up the slide looking for questions. Then the bottom dropped out of his stomach. There were  _loads_. 

"Uhhh Ken?" he asked uncertainly.

He wasn't sure what there might be questions about really. He thought they'd done a pretty thorough job covering the materials, and it was really all common sense anyway. Were these people just that thick? It hardly seemed likely. He'd chatted with a few during the coffee break, and they'd been fairly clever actually. 

"Yeah, thanks. I was just wondering when we're going to talk about the other stuff? Is there a second session coming?"

Fitz blinked and looked over at Jemma. 

"Other stuff?" she asked delicately. She looked back at Fitz, a little lost. 

"You know. Jealousy. Insecurity. Sex. That kind of stuff."

Fitz's jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened. " _Us_?" he whispered incredulously.

Jemma recovered first. "I think what Fitz means is that we weren't informed that that would be part of the scope of our presentation," she said evenly. "I'm afraid this is all we've prepared." She smiled apologetically and shrugged. 

Ken's mouth turned down in disappointment and he crossed his arms over his chest. They were very big arms. Fitz bitterly thought that Ken's biceps were the size of his  _head_. 

Ken's girlfriend Rachel gave his knee a squeeze and leaned forward slightly on her chair. "Well, could you maybe just give us some examples? From your own experience? Just to give us an idea of how  _you_ deal with things?"

Jemma's expression turned awkward, but she nodded her head. Her smile was more of a cringe now. "Sure," she said uncertainly. "Was there-" She swallowed and pushed her hair back from her face. "Was there any sort of example in particular you were looking for?"

Fitz meanwhile wandered over to the refreshments table in the slightly delusional hope that some alcohol might have magically appeared. When there was no evidence it had, he made himself a cup of tea with  _extra_ sugar. He'd just come back and taken a sip when Rachel continued. 

"Well, like, what if you two are out at a club or something and some half-naked floozy starts flirting with Fitz?"

For his entire life, he'd thought that television spit-takes were a contrivance done for comedic effect. Now he knew they weren't. 

Jemma took his cup out of his hand and placed it carefully on the table, then she smoothed her hand over his back in gentle circles as he continued to cough and splutter. 

"I can't say that's happened just yet?" she answered diplomatically. " _But_ when Fitz is getting attention from someone else, I'll often leave him to it."

This response garnered gasps and murmurs from the crowd. 

"You guys have an open relationship?" Jerry called from the back. He looked more than a little surprised. 

"What?" Fitz asked. He'd recovered his breath and he was looking at Jerry like he was a madman. " _No!_ "

Jerry threw up his hands defensively. "Just askin'! Geez!"

Jemma gave Fitz's back another rub and then squeezed his shoulder. "I just mean that I  _trust_ Fitz. A conversation is just that: a conversation. When it's over, he'll come back to me, and we'll often have a chat about whatever he was discussing."

Fitz nodded firmly. True, it happened mostly in a work context and not at a club but still. The theory held. 

"And she keeps an eye out for my signal, so if I want to escape whoever it is, she'll come and drag me away," he added with a grin. He looked at Jemma and jogged her with his elbow slightly to make her smile. "She's good like that."

Jemma looked back to Rachel. "Does that answer your question?"

Rachel frowned. "Ish? I guess I just mean, what do you do when the big green jealousy monster takes over your whole entire brain?"

Ken was smiling fondly at her, but clearly he agreed that she had to learn how to cope with it. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her hand a squeeze. She looked back at him and smiled her thanks.  

Jemma pressed her lips together, and Fitz could tell it was all she could do not to say, "Aww."

"Leave," he said, interrupting before Jemma could say something odd.

"What?"

"Turn around, stop looking, walk out of the room, whatever you have to do," he explained. "Sticking around will only make you  _more_ jealous, so take yourself out of there. The jealousy's not based on anything except your own insecurities. _Ken's_ not going anywhere." He gestured at how the two of them were sitting all cuddled up. "So it's up to you to find a way to deal with how you feel. For me, that's leaving the situation." He shrugged. "That might not work for you, but it's worth a shot?"

Rachel nodded thoughtfully and chewed the skin on her lower lip. 

Feeling good that he'd given someone food for thought, Fitz pointed at Jerry who had raised his hand again. "You've got a question?" he asked. 

"Uh huh. Have you two ever been caught doin' it at work? And if not, can you tell me _where_ you do it? Me and Sylvia've been caught like  _four times_ now, and we're on thin ice."

All of his previous success drained out of him as his brain froze on processing that question. 

Jemma stepped up again. Literally. She actually stepped half in front of Fitz and held up a hand while she smiled another apology to the crowd. "We work in a laboratory," she explained. "It would be not only unhygienic but also  _literally_ dangerous for us to engage in any-" She looked over her shoulder at Fitz before turning back to the group. "Shenanigans," she concluded lamely. 

Jerry shrugged and Sylvia pouted a bit. 

"That said, you might consider the garage?" Jemma suggested. She hated not being able to answer a question. "A number of the vehicles in the fleet have their back seats permanently removed, so you'd be able to lie down if you wanted, and the lighting is dim enough that you wouldn't be immediately visible."

The couple immediately perked up, clearly knowing where they were going after the meeting was over. 

Fitz meanwhile was gawping at Jemma like a fish freshly removed from the water. 

Jemma took one look at him and then turned back to the slide deck. 

"I think that's all the time we have for today," she said briskly but still with an efficient smile. "You've got our contact information should you have any further questions. It was wonderful meeting you all."

Fitz nodded vaguely, still staring at Jemma, as people came up to thank them and shake their hands before departing. 

Once they were alone again, his expression turned more shrewd. 

"You've  _thought_ about that, haven't you?" he asked, his tone just this side of accusing. 

"Not  _in-depth_ ," Jemma said defensively. She combed her fingers through her hair as she blushed. "Just in a sort of thought experiment sort of way."

Fitz narrowed his eyes skeptically and scoffed.  

"I've also planned out what to do in case of a zombie apocalypse," Jemma shrugged nonchalantly. "I like to be prepared."

He couldn't argue with that.


	19. Chapter 19

Jemma wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, but she and Fitz were now agony aunts for half of the agents at the Hub.

After their seminar, they'd expected everything to return back to normal. They'd thought that they might see the participants again in the halls or in a meeting or some such, and there'd be pleasant small talk and that would be it. 

Instead, Rachel emailed two days later. 

> _Hey guys,_
> 
> _Thanks for giving us your emails._
> 
> _I tried what you suggested, Fitz, but it was a no-go. As soon_
> 
> _as I left the room, I started obsessing over what was happening_
> 
> _between Ken and that absolute slut who was coming onto him!_
> 
> _I_ _just kept picturing things in my head, and they got worse and_
> 
> _worse the longer I stayed away. I finally went back in and yelled_
> 
> _at her so bad I made her cry._
> 
> _Thank god it wasn't at work. Who knows what would have_
> 
> _happened if my boss knew about it?_
> 
> _Do you have any other suggestions you can give me? Am I just_
> 
> _a total psycho?_
> 
> _Rachel_

Jemma read the email twice, just to be sure she hadn't imagined it. 

"What am I meant to do with this?" she asked out loud, at a bit of a loss. 

Fitz looked up from where he'd been reading the same email and shrugged. "She tried it my way," he pointed out. "How do  _you_ deal with jealousy?

Jemma bit her lip and furrowed her brow in thought. How  _did_ she deal with jealousy? She didn't often experience it. Certainly not to the degree that Rachel was! Still, she  _must_ have done at some point or other. 

Fitz gauged her expression and went into the kitchen to make tea. The stronger the better. 

It took her the better part of the evening to figure it out, but eventually she was able to reply:

> _Dear Rachel,_
> 
> _Thank you for your email._
> 
> _I'm sorry that the method Fitz proposed didn't work for you. I_
> 
> _thought it was rather good advice myself, but I can see where_
> 
> _you continued to have issues. It's quite understandable._
> 
> _For myself, I tend to go to the opposite extreme. If I'm feeling_
> 
> _insecure in a relationship because a new person has been_
> 
> _introduced, I'll often go out of my way to bring them more_
> 
> _fully on board. I'll seek them out for conversations or other_
> 
> _activities. I'll insist they spend time with my partner. I'll do_
> 
> _everything I can to make them feel a part of things._
> 
> _My mum called it killing with kindness. I call it making the_
> 
> _most of the situation._
> 
> _I'm afraid this advice will probably be even worse for you_
> 
> _than Fitz's, but it's all that I've got. If you'd like, I can share_
> 
> _the number of one of SHIELD's recognized therapists. They_
> 
> _might have advice that would work a bit better?_
> 
> _Best of luck._
> 
> _Jemma_

"You really do that?" Fitz asked after looking up from her draft. He was thinking through their first year at the Academy and suddenly he wondered if they'd become friends just because Jemma was jealous of his grades.

He never  _had_ figured out something clever to say to her, just nattered on about something technical he'd been working on at the time. She'd been the one to keep drawing him out of his shyness. He'd always sort of thought it was that strange bit of bonding that had happened at the Boiler Room that night he'd pretended to be her new boyfriend, but perhaps there were other forces involved in establishing their friendship?

Jemma shrugged a bit self-consciously. "I like to be liked," she said simply. "And I like making friends, and I  _don't_ like feeling jealous. It takes up too much mental energy that could be spent elsewhere."

Fitz had to chuckle. That was Jemma all over. 

A week later, Rachel emailed back to let them know how things had gone with the new advice. 

> _Guys! It worked! Jemma, you're a genius! I mean, more than_
> 
> _your usual level of genius. When we went out on Friday_
> 
> _night, there was this chick all over Ken like usually happens,_
> 
> _but instead of screaming at her to stay away from my man,_
> 
> _I invited her to join us._
> 
> _It was AWESOME!_
> 
> _I was there the whole time, so I didn't have those obsessive_
> 
> _thoughts like I had when I left the situation. PLUS, they_
> 
> _both spent the whole time paying tons of attention to me,_
> 
> _so I felt totally comfortable with the whole thing._
> 
> _Great advice! Ken and I are better than ever!_

Jemma blinked and looked up at Fitz with a stunned expression. 

"Was that ehm-" Fitz cleared his throat and pressed his lips together to keep from bursting out laughing. "Was that what you had in mind when you gave her that advice?" he asked. He was just  _barely_ keeping himself together. 

Jemma shook her head slowly, her eyes wide. "I didn't... I didn't even  _think_ of..." she said vaguely. The wheels in her head were turning as she processed it all, and eventually she just had to smile and shrug. "If it works for them?"

Fitz nodded. "If they're happy, that's what counts."

Rachel was  _so_ happy in fact that she started telling anyone who would listen that FitzSimmons were amazing relationship gurus who gave the best advice she'd ever gotten. 

The emails started pouring in after that. 

 


	20. Chapter 20

_One advantage of being in a fake relationship is there's always someone there when you've had a bad day._

* * *

Fitz walked down the hallway with his face a dark cloud and every swear word he could think of clamoring to be the loudest one shouting inside his brain. When he burst into the lab he shared with Jemma, he slammed the door behind himself and let loose with a curse at such a decibel that Jemma actually jumped.   
  
"What on  _earth_ -?" she asked, turning to look at him incredulously. "Fitz, we're at  _work_ right now!"

"Tell that to the bloody-" Fitz stopped short at Jemma's warning look. Pressing his lips together angrily and then grinding his teeth, he drew in a sharp breath through his nose and then growled out a milder word than he'd initially planned on using. "- _Idiots_ who've just-" Another deep breath and another language adjustment. " _Mucked_ up my  _very clear_ schematics to the point that they built the-" One more tooth-grinding pause and furious expression. " _Ruddy_ thing  _backwards_!"

The door to their lab had opened when Fitz was about two thirds of the way through his explanation. Jemma caught the eye of Dr. Schultz who was looking more than a little rattled by all of the noise. Raising a calming hand, she gestured that she'd handle it. Charles nodded his appreciation, smiled his support, and mouthed to her that she should take Fitz home. She smiled back and nodded her agreement.   
  
"What are you  _smiling_ for?" Fitz asked, gesturing wildly. "Did you not hear what I said? They built it-" This time he wasn't able to contain the words that were flashing in 10 foot tall flaming capitals on the insides of his eyeballs. Jemma coughed to cover it as best she could. "-ng  _backwards!_ "

"So I heard," she said calmly. She looked over at the window to the hallway where there was quite the crowd gathering. "Along with this entire wing of the building," she added mildly.

Fitz looked over at the window and cursed again, more quietly this time. With one hand on his hip and the other pinching the bridge of his nose, he bowed his head and shook it. "Of bloody course," he muttered. 

Fully aware of their audience and trying to look as natural as possible, Jemma moved over to Fitz and pulled him into a hug. "For the audience," she whispered in his ear as she rubbed his back. "And for you, if it's helping."

He actually let out a small chuckle at that one. It  _was_ helping, strangely enough. He wrapped one arm around her in a loose hug and pressed his lips to her forehead. Good old Jemma. Didn't even blink when his temper flared up and made him laugh when what he most wanted to do was strangle someone. 

"Can we get out of here?" he requested. "Go grab a tea or something? I need to clear my head."

Jemma nodded and gave him a squeeze. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see there were still a few people watching, so she cupped Fitz's cheek and gave him a peck on the lips. "I say we call it a day," she said decisively. "It's already gone two o'clock and you're not likely to get yourself back on track any time soon. We put in enough extra hours that I think we can skive off early for once without raising any hackles."  
  
They exchanged a smile. Fitz closed his eyes and let out a much calmer breath. "Thanks for this," he said sincerely. 

"I'm not done," Jemma informed him cheerfully. "We're going to get a takeaway on the way home,  _and_ some beer,  _and_ your choice of ridiculous dessert, and we're going to spend the evening watching episodes of Doctor Who and not thinking about work at all."  
  
"That sounds  _brilliant_ ," Fitz groaned. Moving over to his desk, he packed up his bag and then slung it over his shoulder. "Can we get some pretzels too?" he asked hopefully. It wasn't often that Jemma was in quite this forgiving of a mood where their food was concerned. He needed to take advantage while he could. 

"Yes," Jemma smiled as she hung up her lab coat and grabbed her purse. " _And_ popcorn."

Fitz whistled in surprise, putting a hand on the small of her back as they left the lab. For the onlookers, of course. "Maybe I should have a complete and utter meltdown at work more often," he joked. 

Jemma pointed a warning finger at him and shook her head. "This is  _not_ a reward for the way you behaved," she said adamantly. "That was very unprofessional, and I will not encourage it. This is to make up for the-" She looked around for eavesdroppers as they waited for the lift to arrive. Then, just in case she stood on tiptoe and whispered her own unprofessional word in Fitz's ear before continuing. "Who can't read a simple schematic."

Fitz laughed out loud as they entered the elevator. The sound echoed all the way down the shaft. 

 


	21. Chapter 21

Fitz groaned as he made his way over to the sofa. He was so full of pizza and wings that he could barely move. They hadn't even made the ice cream sundaes they'd bought all the ingredients for!

"You alright?" Jemma asked with a knowing smirk. 

"Mmhmm," he nodded, holding his stomach as he eased his way onto the cushion. "Ohhhh god. That was fantastic."

"It was also somewhat miraculus," Jemma snorted shaking her head. "How you can fit most of a large pizza and a dozen wings in there-" She pointed to his stomach and shook her head. "It boggles the mind. Somewhat like watching a snake eat a watermelon."

"Oi," Fitz groaned with a frown. "None of that, now. I've had a bad enough day already. I don't need you adding that sort of imagery to the mix." He lay down on the sofa, rubbing his stomach to soothe some of the full feeling. He'd never say it out loud to Jemma, but he  _might_ have overdone it with that last slice. 

Jemma chuckle. "Come on, budge up," she said, pushing at his shoulder. 

Fitz groaned even louder as he gripped the back of the sofa to help pull himself into a half-sitting-up position. Jemma slid in behind him, one leg on either side of him, and he sank back with a sigh against her front. 

"Better?" Jemma asked. Leaning over, she grabbed the remote from the coffee table. 

"Much," Fitz agreed. He had the satisfied look of a man full of good food who was probably going to fall asleep within the hour. 

It only took twenty minutes. With Jemma's fingers playing in his curls and the warmth of her behind his back, he was softly snoring before the second commercial break. 

* * *

"Fitz?" Jemma whispered softly. She really had to pee, but Fitz had had a long day and she didn't want to wake him up too harshly. "Fitz?"

"Mmmrrwmahh?" Fitz wrinkled up his nose and shifted position slightly. 

Unfortunately, that only put more pressure on her bladder, so Jemma's whisper got a bit more urgent. "Fitz?" She slid a hand down over his chest to shake him awake. "C'mon Fitz. Time to get up!"

He made another indistinguishable noise and grabbed her hand, folding it under both of his. 

Jemma chuckled. Who knew he could be such a sweetheart when he wasn't fully conscious?

Running her fingers into his hair, she ruffled it and gave it a mild tug. "There's ice cream for dessert, remember?" she said a little bit louder. 

"Hmm?" His eyebrows lifted, but his eyes weren't open yet. He shifted again, more onto his side, and that relieved the pressure at least. Unfortunately, he still had a grip on her hand so she couldn't try to disentangle herself. 

"Ice cream and chocolate sauce and m&ms," Jemma reminded him. "And pretzels you can crush up over top." She was speaking in a normal voice now in the hopes that he'd come round. 

It seemed to be working. He screwed up his nose again and then let out a large yawn. Then he wiped at his eyes with one hand while the other kept its hold on hers. 

Finally, he turned over even more. He would have fallen off of the sofa if she hadn't had her legs on either side of him. 

"Jemma?" he asked, blinking his eyes open in confusion. "What-?" He yawned again, a strange noise escaping from the back of his throat as he did. "What time is it?"

"Time for dessert," Jemma smiled. She patted him on the shoulder with her free hand, urging him to get up. "And time for me to visit the loo."

Fitz immediately pulled himself up into a sitting position and Jemma eased herself out from behind him. 

"Thanks," she smiled as she hurried down the hall. "And I'm ready for ice cream if you are!" she called just before shutting the bathroom door. 

Fitz didn't move from the spot. He just blinked some more as his brows pulled together. His brain was scratching at the edges of an idea, but he couldn't figure out what it was. 

"Do you not want dessert?"

He looked up in surprise. Jemma had returned and he hadn't even heard her. He must have been lost in thought for however long it had taken her to use the facilities. 

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Still just waking up." He got up off the couch and padded into the kitchen after Jemma. "Might need some tea to go with it," he smiled. 

Jemma turned to look at him and then burst out with a laugh. "Oh, Fitz," she said fondly. Then she came over to him and reached up to run her fingers through his hair. "You're a bit of a mess," she smiled. "But I'll put you right."

He watched her face as she concentrated on making his curls less of a bird's nest on his head. She really was remarkably pretty. Adorable, really, with those freckles across her nose. His mouth curled up into a smile as he felt a warmth spread through his chest. Jemma really was just the best. She always took such good care of him. 

He caught himself leaning down just as she finished up and turned to get the ice cream out of the freezer.

"Did you want the chocolate sauce or the butterscotch?" she asked as she brought out both and some spoons. 

Fitz swallowed hard. He'd been leaning down. Toward Jemma. While thinking about how pretty she was and how he always wanted to be with her. 

"Both," he rasped. Then he cleared his throat. It had closed up a bit when his entire body had clenched. 

Best friends don't kiss, he reminded himself firmly. Not unless there's an audience who think we're dating. And even then, it's just a peck not-

What he'd been thinking of doing  _wasn't_ a peck. 

"You do live life dangerously," Jemma joked, passing him both sauces and taking a handful of candies for her own sundae. 

"That I do," Fitz agreed. 

After all, only a madman would get a crush on his best friend.

 


	22. Chapter 22

_Pretending to date someone is all fun and games - until one of you wants to stop pretending._

* * *

"I really hate these bloody things," Fitz muttered, pulling at his jacket. "Why do we even have to come?"

Jemma rolled her eyes and moved in front of him, resettling his jacket and smiling encouragingly. "Because when people give you awards, it's generally considered polite to show up and receive them."

She was wearing a deep burgundy dress that made her pale skin look like porcelain and brought out the bits of red in her dark hair. She'd put makeup on that covered up her freckles, but there were more on her shoulders and her chest. Her brown eyes looked even bigger than usual and her red lips even fuller, and the high heels she was wearing made them almost exactly the same height. 

These weren't things that Fitz would have noticed a few weeks ago, but he couldn't stop noticing them now. He noticed things about her all the time ever since he'd noticed how he felt. 

  * She always stirred her tea precisely three times before resting her spoon on the saucer. 
  * Her nose wrinkled up when she laughed, and when she laughed hardest she'd reach out to hold his arm or his hand in support. 
  * She kept a hair elastic around her right wrist so that she could pull her hair back if need be in the lab. 
  * When she was in a particularly good mood, she hummed to herself. Mostly Mozart concertos. 



The list went on and on and  _on_. They'd been friends for four years and roommates for two and yet somehow there were endless things he'd never realized about her that he couldn't help marveling over now. 

"Come on," she grinned, taking his hand and pulling him into the banquet hall. "I promise I'll rescue you if anyone gets  _too_ boring."

Fitz's heart lurched in his chest when she took his hand in hers. He had to try very hard to breathe normally. She was just his best friend, doing what best friends do. Nothing more. 

"Fitz! Simmons!"

He turned and suppressed the groan that wanted to burst out. "Webber," he nodded with a much less enthusiastic smile. He hadn't seen Sally in ages and yet this was still too soon. 

Jemma, of course, was much better at the social niceties. 

"Sally! It's been too long!" She actually gave the horrid woman a hug! "I saw your name in the programme, but I thought you were still in India?"

Sally shook her head and took a long draught of her drink. "Got brought back last month," she said, flagging over one of the catering staff and putting her empty glass on their tray. "These awards do tend to put one on the path to promotion," she grinned. 

"Promotion?" Fitz frowned. Had Sally Webber made it to Level Five before they had?

"Nothing's finalized yet of course," she continued with a sniff. "But I have it on good authority that I'll be the new liaison to the Congressional Science Committee."

Jemma stepped on Fitz's foot, so he didn't  _actually_ burst out laughing, but it was a near thing. They'd been refusing that post for the last year and a half. There weren't enough perks in the  _world_ to make them sign up for  _that_ lot. 

"Congratulations!" Jemma enthused. She looped her hand into the crook of Fitz's elbow and gave him a little pinch. 

"Yes! Congrats! Definitely!" Fitz managed. He was still trying not to giggle. Sally and Congress. They deserved each other. 

* * *

"And the winners for this year's Key Advancements in Technology... Drs. Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons!"

Agent Knittle led the applause as Fitz stood up and pulled Jemma's chair out for her. 

Then the rush of winning went to his head and as she stood up, he pulled her in for a kiss. It wasn't anything passionate or really all  _that_ much more than he might give a friend, but it was on the lips and it lasted a second and a half. When it ended, he was blushing and Jemma was grinning broadly. She had to pull him up to the stage because he was a bit frozen after what he'd done. 

She ended up delivering their speech for the both of them. They'd written it together and he'd warned her that he didn't want to have to talk a bunch of nonsense and flattery, so it was nice of her to just do it for him. She did get him to deliver the thanks at the end but that wasn't anything too dire. 

"-And we look forward to a future full of new technologies, opening up new doors - mouse hole or otherwise - for SHIELD."

He'd cringed at the self-reference but Jemma had reassured him that people would love it. She wasn't wrong. He'd gotten quite a laugh from the line, even as he continued to hate it. 

But then they were shuffled off the stage and out of the limelight and it was just the two of them again. 

"Can you believe it, Fitz?" Jemma asked, looking at their ridiculous glass pillar in wonder. "The Key Advancements award!" She turned to look at him, and her smile shone brighter than the light reflecting off of the crystal. "And we're the youngest agents ever to receive it!"

The look on her face made the whole horrid evening worthwhile. The terrible food. Sally Webber. The suit jacket that didn't quite fit. The schmoozing. The public embarrassment. All of it was worth it, to see Jemma smile like that. 

"I'm only surprised that it took us this long," Fitz joked. "A couple of geniuses like us? Should have happened way sooner."

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

"Congratulations, you two!" Ann Weaver was positively giddy with pride as she came over to give them each a hug. "I just  _knew_ you'd be cutting a swath once you got your feet under you a bit, and here you are - the Key Advancement award!" She shook her head, her wide smile lighting up her face. "Honestly, I couldn't be prouder."

Jemma beamed. Praise from her superiors always gave her a happy, warm glow in her chest but to hear such words from Dr. Weaver! She blushed even as she grinned. 

"Oh,  _thank_ you, Dr. Weaver."

"Jemma! I keep telling you to call me Ann!"

"... Ann." Jemma's blush deepened, but her chest puffed up a bit with pride. "It was really Fitz who deserves most of the cred-"

"Oi!" Fitz interrupted. He swallowed the profiterole he'd just popped into his mouth in a single bite and wiped his mouth with his serviette. "None of that, now. We're a team, and we won that award as a team."

Ann chuckled and shook her head fondly. "Still as in love as you were back at the Academy." She sighed, nodding and crossing her arms over her chest in a self-hug. "I'm glad. Jobs like these can really do a number on relationships, but I had a feeling you two were in it for the long haul."  
  
Jemma looked over at Fitz and he seemed a bit terrified, so she wrapped her arms around him in a side hug and smiled. "Definitely," she agreed with confidence. "I knew right from the start that I never wanted to be without him. Job or no job." She turned to smile up at him, and he seemed rather stunned. 

"Mmhmm," he agreed. His voice sounded a bit strangled, but he managed a nod. He even wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Not that Jemma was too worried about maintaining their cover. Fitz had been clever enough to kiss her when their names had been called for the award, so the entire room got confirmation that they were a couple. 

The band on stage started to play a slow song, and Dr. Weaver encouraged them out onto the dance floor. "Go on. It's not every night you get to dress up and be the talk of the town. Enjoy it!"

Taking Fitz's hand, Jemma lead him out onto the floor. He looked even more terrified than he had before. 

"Just like we learned in class," she reassured him.

With one hand placed in his and the other on his shoulder, she caught his eye and nodded for them to begin. That nod seemed to put Fitz into autopilot. He adjusted his grip on her hand and rested his other hand on the small of her back and then started moving them in a rather respectable looking waltz. Jemma smiled as she heard him counting under his breath. 

"1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. I, 2-"

"It's alright, Fitz. I think we've got it."

"But-"

She smiled at him and shifted her hand from his shoulder to his back, pulling him in a bit closer. As she rubbed her hand over his stiff muscles, he relaxed a bit and drew her in closer still. Soon they were cheek to cheek. 

"See?" she whispered. Her fingers dipped into the hair just curling over his collar. It was soft under her fingertips. She couldn't help but stroke it a bit. "No problem. We just had to find our rhythm. It's smooth sailing now."

Fitz nodded and she felt him sigh. It was his turn to run his hand over her back. Jemma smiled. It really was rather soothing. 

* * *

Fitz got himself a pint at the bar and grabbed a gin and ginger for Jemma as well. He needed a drink to calm his nerves after dancing with her for what felt like three years but was probably just a half hour. 

Why did she have to smell so good?

And whose idea was it for her to wear a dress with practically no back to it?

He was working up to a proper grump by the time he got back to their table. They'd finish their drinks and then leave. He could only keep his bad mood to himself for so long before snapping at someone, and he didn't want to disappoint Jemma by losing his temper on their special night. 

She was talking to a very pregnant woman that Fitz didn't recognize from the back. Once he got around the table and was able to see her face, he was surprised. 

"Eileen?" he asked. "Congratulations!" He smiled despite himself. He'd heard that Eileen had gotten married the year before, and she looked happy (if a bit tired) to be starting her family. 

"Thanks, Fitz," she grinned. "I was just asking Jemma when I should expect to say the same to you."

Fitz blinked. "Well, I mean, we  _did_ just win an award...?" He squinted at her, a bit confused. People had been congratulating them all night. 

Eileen laughed so hard she had to press her hands over her stomach. "No, I mean when I should be expecting the wedding invitation."

"The wed-?" Fitz sat down so hard it was a wonder the chair didn't break under him. 

Eileen looked at Jemma with an expression of understanding pity. "He's not there yet, is he?" she asked. It was more statement than question. 

Jemma smiled. "In his defense, neither am I?"

Eileen laughed again. "Fair enough then. But I'd  _better_ be on the list of people you call as soon as you get engaged!" she said, shaking a warning finger at both of them. "I was there when you got together, after all. Both times!" She laughed again, and then she swore. "Oh, damnit. Help me up? I need to pee. This baby is sitting  _right_ on top of my bladder!"

Jemma hauled her up and went with her to the bathroom while Fitz stayed at the table. He finished his beer without even noticing it, then he grabbed Jemma's drink and tossed it back as well.

 _Married_? Him and Jemma? Was that what all of these people were expecting?

He looked around the room at the various colleagues and superiors and honoured guests and it felt like they were all looking at him and wondering why he hadn't popped the question yet. From their perspective, he and Jemma had been together for well over two years. Even if they were still young, they'd done everything else early so why not that?

The blood drained from his face and he wished he had another drink handy. Instead, he just grabbed the remainder of Jemma's cheesecake and wolfed that down. 

He had to get out of here. He needed some fresh air and a chance to  _think_. What in the hell had happened to them? This whole relationship business was meant to be fake!

By the time Jemma had returned from the loo, he'd already visited the coat check for her jacket and called a taxi to take them home. 

"I'm not feeling well," he said by way of explanation, trying to look as pathetic as he felt. "Too many sweets, I think." That would convince her. Jemma had been warning him all night that if he ate too many pastries he'd end up regretting it. 

She tsked as he helped her into her coat, but then she rubbed his stomach the way his mum had done when he was a child. Even though he wasn't actually ill, it made him feel better. 

They rode the taxi home in silence. Jemma's was companionable but his was tense. He had a lot of thinking to do, about them and this massive con they were playing. People were expecting them to  _get married_ for pity's sake! No doubt someone out there was wondering what their  _child_ would be like! It was madness. Sheer, unadulterated madness!

By the time they got home, Fitz had made a decision. It wasn't a decision he particularly liked, but it was the only one that he could see making any sense at all. 

As he helped Jemma off with her coat, he took a deep breath. As he hung it up in the closet, he let it out. 

"Jemma?" he said. He steeled himself as she turned to him looking breathtakingly beautiful and absolutely happy. 

"I think we need to break up."


	24. Chapter 24

Jemma's face fell as the magic of the evening gave way to reality. 

"Because of Eileen?" she guessed. She kicked off her shoes. She wanted to kick something else, though she didn't know what. "She didn't mean it, you know. She apologized when we were in the loo."

Looking at her shoes all askew on the floor, even her upset wouldn't allow her to leave them that way. Bending down, she stood them up neatly together, toes to the wall. 

Fitz nodded, but he still looked miserable. She watched him run a hand through his hair and rub the back of his neck, and she knew that he didn't feel good about what he'd said. 

"I'm sorry Jemma, but you know I'm right."

She sighed and nodded back. "That doesn't make me feel any better," she said, a sad smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Want me to put the kettle on?" he offered. 

He was already holding his arms open when she moved in for a hug. "I don't know if tea will be enough right now," Jemma mumbled against his suit jacket. She drew in a deep breath and felt soothed by the familiar scent of him. 

"I'll make up a plate of biscuits as well, shall I?"

Jemma smiled at the rumble of laughter she heard in Fitz's chest, and she joined him with a chuckle. "Perfect," she agreed, even though it was far from it. "I'm just going to go get changed. Wash my face."

"Meet you on the sofa?" Fitz offered. 

She watched him move into the kitchen and felt a pang in her chest. She'd known their arrangement wouldn't last forever, but she was still sad that it was ending. It was like the end of an era.

* * *

Fitz put the kettle on and then went to his room to change into his pajamas. With plaid bottoms and his old Academy tshirt on, he padded back to the kitchen just as the kettle boiled and set about making the tea. He put a few jammy dodgers on a plate and then, thinking about Jemma and what she would like, he cut up an apple and added the slices as well. 

She was sat on the sofa when he went into the living room, a mug in each hand and the plate balanced on top of one of them. 

"Oops, I've got it." She smiled as she leaned forward and grabbed the plate. She put it down on the coffee table and then took the mug he offered her. 

She was sitting sideways on the sofa, and she pulled in her legs as he sat down. Once he was settled, he gestured and she lay her legs across his lap. 

"So," he began, heaving a deep sigh. 

"So," she agreed. 

They exchanged rueful smiles and sipped their tea. 

"I'll put in for a new apartment," Fitz offered. "You can stay here."

He looked around the place, taking in the pretty curtains and the soft rugs and the colourful throw pillows. If he stayed, he'd just end up thinking of her all the time. Besides, she'd put a lot of effort into making the place feel like home. 

Jemma's mouth drew up into a pout and she frowned. "Do you really need to move out?" she asked. 

He tilted his head and looked at her seriously.

She sighed. 

"It's just that I  _like_ us being roommates," she said.

There was a hint of a whine in her tone, but he could see she was trying to keep a stiff upper lip. That was Jemma all over. Keep it all inside. 

"I do as well," Fitz admitted. Too much, as of late.

He'd been spending too much of their home time watching her, wishing he were brave enough to say something. Wishing even harder that he had a hope in hell that she'd feel the same way. 

"But-"

Jemma nodded. "But it'll be hard enough to convince people we can still work together, post-breakup. No one would believe we could still share an apartment."

Fitz smiled and stroked a hand down her arm. "Not even FitzSimmons could have a relationship that good," he chuckled. 

Jemma smiled. Then she laughed. "I suppose  _one_ small favour is that we'll stop getting all of those relationship advice emails."

Fitz blinked. Then he grinned. "In that case, we should have broken up  _ages_ ago!"

One of the colourful throw pillow hit him in the face. 

"Oi! Careful! I might have spilled my tea!"

Jemma snorted. "You mean the tea that is currently on the coffee table?" she pointed out. 

Fitz narrowed his eyes. "Did you check that before you threw that pillow?"

Jemma looked at him with such innocence that it was totally unbelievable. 

They both cracked up. 

In the end, Jemma sighed and reached out for Fitz's hand. 

"I don't suppose it matters that I don't really want to break up?" she said, looking at him fondly.

Fitz's heart flopped over in his chest and he had to remind himself that she just wanted to keep her best friend as her roommate. 

"Look on the bright side," he said. "You'll be able to date again?"

His stomach churned at the idea. He'd seen enough of her having boyfriends back when they were still at the Academy. He hadn't liked it then. He'd hate it with every fibre of his being now. 

Jemma chuckled. "Aha! The truth comes out," she teased. " _That's_ why you're so eager to be rid of me. What's her name?"

Fitz snorted. "Anne," he joked. "Anne O. Nymous." He rolled his eyes when Jemma didn't get it. "Anonymous. Because she doesn't exist."

Jemma groaned. 

"Another reason we should break up. No more of my bad jokes when you're trying to have a nice relaxing evening!"

Jemma smiled, but it faltered. She put her tea down on the table and swung her legs out of Fitz's lap so that she could move in closer and wrap her arms around him. 

"I'm going to miss this," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. 

"Hey now," he said softly. He wrapped his arm around her and tried not to think about how much he wanted to be able to sit like this every night for the rest of his life. "We'll still visit. It just won't be every night is all."

Jemma nodded and drew in a deep breath. "I know." She sighed it out. "But visiting isn't the same."

Fitz didn't really have anything to say to that. 

They sat there like that for a while, holding each other and sharing in the silence. By the time they moved, their tea had gone cold. 

Jemma got up to put the kettle back on. They needed to figure out their break up story. 

 


	25. Chapter 25

_It's awkward being friends with your ex. It's more awkward being best friends with your ex. It's more awkward still when you aren't technically exes, but everyone thinks that you are. _

* * *

It had been roughly two years since he and Jemma had "broken up," and Fitz had long since gotten over his crush. It was just a passing fancy that had briefly overtaken him, and he was glad that it had. If it hadn't, they might still be living together with everyone they knew waiting for the day they announced their engagement. Had Jemma been planning on a fake marriage on top of it all? Hah! What an idea. 

No, they were well rid of the situation. And he was well rid of his silly schoolboy crush.

Sure, he got a bit jealous sometimes when she dated someone new. And yes, he sometimes looked a bit too long when she was dressed up for some special occasion. Perhaps he had an inappropriate thought or two in private moments, but all in all he was back to being just friends with her and for that he was very glad. 

It was really  _very_ awkward to have a crush on one's best friend. Better just to avoid it entirely. 

Even still, it was a bit much having to watch her get all googly-eyed over  _Milton_. 

The man was as interesting as watching paint dry. He had the depth of a rain puddle. He was as charismatic as a ceiling fan and as brilliant as a burnt out bulb. 

Basically, Jemma could do better. By a mile. 

"Are you sure you don't want to come to dinner with us?" Jemma asked. She was reaching for her bag, getting ready to leave work for the evening. "We're going to that Italian place you like."

Fitz scrunched up his nose with an insincere smile. "No thanks. Wouldn't want to be a third wheel."

Jemma tutted and came over to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "If anyone feels that way, it's Milton I'm sad to say," she chuckled. She shook her head and sighed. "He  _insists_ that I don't pay him any attention when you're around, but I don't think that's true. ...Do you?"

She frowned slightly, and Fitz could see the gears of guilt turning in her head. 

"That's complete nonsense," he said authoritatively. "He's just being irrational because Sarah told him I'm your  _ex_." He rolled his eyes. "If I'd known how long that relationship scheme of yours would follow us around, I never would have agreed to it."

Jemma scoffed. "It was hardly a  _scheme_ ," she said. It was an old argument and one that they'd probably have until they were sitting on rocking chairs in an old folks' home. "It was a well-considered plan that allowed us to be posted together and remain both best friends and colleagues." She crossed her arms defensively. "Would you rather we'd been split up back then?"

Fitz let out a mocking laugh. He was as well-versed in this argument as she was, and just as entrenched in his opinions. 

"You don't know for sure that they'd have split us up. Every single person at the Academy said that we were the best team they'd ever produced. No matter what the usual regulations are, SHIELD aren't stupid enough to separate us. Case in point, we're still working together even though we're not 'together' romantically anymore." He paused and shifted from one foot to the other, placing his hands on the small of his back. "In their view," he added awkwardly. 

He replayed it in his head and wasn't entirely sure if it sounded like they  _were_ together romantically or like they never  _had_ been together romantically. Whatever. Didn't matter. Either way, Jemma knew what they were and what they weren't.

She was about to start in on her side of the argument (having two years of working together as proof that they were better together was far superior evidence from a SHIELD perspective than two students who worked on a couple of projects well) when Milton knocked on the lab door and came in. 

"Ready to go?" he asked diffidently. He looked from Jemma to Fitz and back again. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Just an old argument," Fitz said, shaking his head. He couldn't help noticing that Milton brightened up at the news. "Interrupting is the best thing you could do." He was tempted to add 'ever in your life' but he thought that might be a bit harsh. 

"We'll continue this later," Jemma promised, moving over to give Milton a welcoming kiss on the cheek. 

Fitz couldn't help noticing she'd given him the same kiss not five minutes earlier. She was an odd bird, that one. 

"No doubt," he agreed. His face was sour as he turned back to his computer. He didn't really have any work that still needed doing, he just didn't want to end up stuck in an elevator with them. "Enjoy your dinner."

"You sure you don't want-"

Fitz glared at Milton, shutting him up before he'd even finished his insincere offer. 

"Alright then." Milton put his hand on the small of Jemma's back and guided her towards the door. "Have a good night."

Fitz stared at his monitor and lifted a hand in a wave. Bloody stupid  _Milton_. What on earth did Jemma see in him? At least those Ops blokes she usually dated were handsome and muscular and charming and all that. Milton was just...  _Milton_. 

What did he have that Fitz didn't?

 


	26. Chapter 26

Jemma waved goodbye to Milton as she settled down at the table with Gerta and Eileen. It was a rare chance for the three of them to get together. Gerta was a member of a field team and spent most of her time working overseas. Eileen had a toddler at home who was so active, she and her husband usually had to tag team her. Today, the grandparents were willing to try their hand for two full hours.   
  
"Milton?" Eileen asked as soon as Jemma's bum hit her chair. "You're dating  _Milton_?"

Jemma frowned and exchanged glances with Gerta. "What's wrong with Milton?" she asked a bit defensively. "And it's nice to see you, too."

Eileen scoffed and waved a hand in the face of Jemma's discomfort. "I have two hours of freedom here, Jemma.  _Two hours_. Which is already down to one hour and forty-seven minutes. There's no time for niceties. Why on  _earth_  are you dating  _Milton_?"

Jemma lifted her chin obstinately and sniffed. "Because I like him."

Even Gerta had to snort at that one. 

" _Please_ ," she chuckled, rolling her eyes. "He's the fat-free, sugar-free, sodium-free, gluten-free, light, diet version of Fitz." She raised an eyebrow. "You can do better."

Eileen raised her cocktail and nodded emphatically. "Hear hear!"

Jemma crossed her arms and pouted. "With friends like you..."

"With friends like  _us_ , you'll admit that Milton is the dry white toast to Fitz's... chocolate mousse."

Jemma squinted at her, wondering if she'd sustained a head injury of some sort. "Chocolate-?" She was interrupted by their server arriving. She ordered herself a large glass of wine to go with her meal, only resisting the lure of a full bottle because she'd done that exactly once in her life and she never wanted to experience a wine hangover again. 

"There's nothing wrong with Milton," she insisted as their server took their menus and went to put their order in. "He's kind and smart and he does everything he can to make me happy."

It was Eileen's turn to roll her eyes. "You mean he does everything you tell him to do."

"What?"

"Pay attention. The next time you two are trying to make a decision, he'll say something vague or wishy washy and as soon as you state any sort of a preference, he'll glom onto that. The man couldn't form an opinion if it was made out of clay. He's got the personality of- of- tapioca!"

Jemma turned to look behind her. All of these dessert references were making her suspicious. She let out a soft laugh when she saw a menu board on the wall listing off the day's dessert specials. Chocolate mousse and tapioca pudding both made appearances. 

"Look," she said, smiling fondly at two of her best friends (after Fitz). "I know you don't really like Milton all that much, but-"

"No," Eileen sighed. She reached across the table and gave Jemma's hand a squeeze. "Milton's fine. Really. He's just not the right guy for you."

Gerta took her other hand and gave it a similar squeeze. " _Fitz_ is." When Jemma tried to pull away, she held fast. "You broke up because you wanted to go into the field and he didn't. Well, it's two years later and you still haven't left. Don't you think that  _means_ something?"

Jemma turned a bit pink. Even when they'd come up with that story, she'd seen the pitfall. It was just, well, they didn't really disagree on that many things. Not things that would lead to a breakup, at least. One wanting to stay and the other wanting to move away seemed like the only reason that anyone would believe for why they'd broken up after so many years together. 

"Yes," Jemma said. She yanked her hands back and used them to ball up her serviette in her lap. "It means that I still haven't passed my field assessment. So thank you for bringing  _that_ up."

"Oh." Gerta looked both disappointed and awkward. "Sorry about that. Did you want some tips?" she offered helpfully. 

Jemma smiled back kindly, letting her know there were no hard feelings. "That'd be lovely," she agreed. Then she reached across and gave Gerta a hand squeeze of her own. 

Eileen sighed and shook her head. "Fine. You still want to go into the field. Whatever. That doesn't mean you can't still find someone better for you than  _Milton_. What about one of those massive guys over in Ops? Then you could go on overseas adventures together, killing bad guys and having sex on beaches."

Gerta laughed so hard she actually started coughing. "As someone who  _does_ work in the field? That's really not what it's like."

Eileen laughed. "Only because your massive Ops agent is a woman," she teased. 

"Also, I tend to spend most of my time in land-locked countries or holed up in the basement of a base somewhere."

"Details, schme-tails."

Jemma relaxed back into her chair as her wine arrived and laughed along with her friends. They were wrong about Milton. He was perfectly nice. And he  _didn't_ do whatever she wanted to do. She was sure of it. 

Anyway, no need to bring him up again when they were finally getting off the topic. 

"Alright," she said, leaning forward with an eager smile. "The race is on. Who's going to show me their pictures first?"

Never bet against a mother, not even when she's going up against an international spy. Eileen had her phone unlocked and her gallery open before Gerta could even get her phone out of her bag. 

It was the best two hours of Jemma's week. 


	27. Chapter 27

Fitz poured the popcorn into a bowl and brought it over to where Jemma was already sitting on the sofa. Grabbing the remote, he sat down beside her.   
  
"You really haven't watched it yet?" he asked with more than a little surprise. Downton Abbey was Jemma's favourite show. The fact that she'd waited three entire days so they could watch it together was a bit stunning. 

Jemma chuckled and shook her head. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yes!" Fitz snorted. "Don't you remember that time we were over at Eileen's for dinner and you'd PVR'd it and even though we didn't get home til half eleven and you were so tired you could barely keep your eyes open, you insisted on watching it?"

They hadn't been roommates anymore by then, but they still occasionally crashed on each other's sofas. If it was getting late and they were really tired, it was a safer option than driving home and it was sort of nice to revisit their old arrangement in a small way. 

Jemma rolled her eyes, but she also blushed a little bit.  "That was  _one_ time. You can let it go any time you like."

"So, never then?"

"Apparently."

They'd only just finished the opening credits when Jemma grabbed the remote and hit pause. 

Fitz looked at her in surprise. "You need the loo, or-?"

She was biting her lip and looking worried: two bad signs in his experience. 

"I need to talk to you about something."

He felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Between her expression and the fact that she was delaying one of her favourite things in the world, there was no way this boded well. 

If she'd gotten engaged to stupid bloody  _Milton_ -!

"Alright," he said cautiously. At the same time, his hands were balling up into fists, so he stuffed them under his thighs where she couldn't see. He wanted to be a supportive best friend, even if she were making a massive mistake. If she was happy, he could be happy, too. 

Jemma took a deep breath and wiped her palms on her jeans. That made Fitz even more nervous. Whatever she was going to say, it was definitely big. 

"I've signed up to take the field assessment again. In June. And I want you to take it as well."

Fitz just stared at her and blinked. 

He was totally gobsmacked. To say that had come out of left field was an understatement. It had come out of a different  _hemisphere_. 

She was twisting her fingers together nervously, and he could see how anxious she was about what she'd just said, but he was still trying to process it and couldn't quite speak yet. 

"I  _know_ you think that field assignments are too dangerous, I do," she continued. "But I think if we could get assigned together, we could protect each other. And I was talking to Gerta, and she said that there are plenty of field assignments where it's hardly more dangerous than our lab here at Sci-Ops but we'd be seeing things first hand. 0-8-4s! Alien tech! You could see your mousehole in action! Maybe even meet Tony Stark!"

Fitz was still taking it all in and ridiculously, the only question he could think of was, "What about Milton?"

Why on  _earth_ had he asked  _that_? He didn't give a rat's arse about Milton!

Jemma looked down at her jeans and picked at a nonexistent piece of lint. "We broke up," she said simply. 

"You-?" Fitz gawped even more. " _When_?"

Jemma looked at her watch and shrugged sheepishly. "About two hours ago?"

Fitz's jaw worked up and down a few times as he struggled to find words. This was too many shocks in such a short period of time. He didn't even know what emotions he was feeling anymore. 

"Can I ask why?" he asked with a frown. Again, he didn't really care about the particulars, but it was the question you asked in this situation, so he asked it. 

She shrugged again and found another piece of invisible lint. "It wasn't working out."

Fitz nodded. He was processing. 

So Jemma had dumped Milton. That was good, right? He couldn't imagine the breakup going in the reverse, and presumably she'd be more upset if it had. She just seemed more embarrassed to talk about it than she was sad about it. 

But going into the field? She'd wanted to do it since the Academy, but Fitz had never seen the appeal. Yes, it would be fun to see his tech in action. Sure, he'd love to get his hands on some alien tech. It'd be great to discover something or to save the world or something like that. But none of those things were worth the pure bloody terror involved in the whole scenario. 

People  _died_ on field assignments. 

That thought was chilling. Even worse was the idea of not being there for her if she did. 

Fitz took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His hands released their fists, his fingers aching with cramps after being clenched too tight for too long. He wiped his palms on his jeans and then scratched one cheek, considering. 

"Field assessments, eh?" he said uncertainly. 

Jemma nodded, trying to keep her eagerness at a manageable level. "Yes," she confirmed hopefully. 

"In June?"

"Mmhmm."

Fitz took back the remote and fiddled with it for a moment, fidgeting. He hated everything about this moment. Everything was changing, and no matter what he did it would change even more. He missed the simpler days of them being roommates without a care in the world. He stared at the paused TV, weighing the options. 

Finally, he just said one word. 

"Alright."

Pressing play on the remote, he slouched down a bit on the sofa and put his feet up on the table. Jemma smiled her thanks and he smiled back. Then she lifted up his arm and cuddled in against his side as he squeezed her around the shoulders. 


	28. Chapter 28

_The second time we got engaged was remarkably similar to the first, strangely enough._

* * *

"Oh come on, now," Fitz said, giving her a supportive chuck on the shoulder. "It wasn't  _that_ bad, was it?"

Jemma looked at him with precisely the amount of amusement she was feeling in that moment: none. 

"It was  _horrendous_ , Fitz. Absolutely horrendous. There was no saving it. None!" Looking down at her mud-covered body, she groaned out a sigh. "We'll  _never_ pass our field assessments."

Fitz looked at her a bit sheepishly and tentatively held out a mud-covered brick. "I found your shoe?"

He looked so pathetic, all covered in mud, and yet still totally sweet as he held out the shoe she'd lost halfway through the obstacle course. All she could do was laugh as she reached out and took it from him. 

"You alright?" he asked. She could just barely discern his expression under his faceful of muck. He definitely looked like he was worried she'd lost it. 

"I'm fine," she reassured him. Then she sighed again. "Fourth time's a charm?"

That was definitely a grimace, but she gave Fitz his due. He didn't swear this time, just nodded his agreement. "I'll tell them we're signing up for September?"

Jemma smiled and nodded back. "Meet you out front after we get cleaned up?" They were in such a state their showers would probably take an hour!

They parted ways into their respective change rooms and Jemma let out a louder groan as she struggled out of her clothes. Just their luck that their assessments had coincided with a spate of rain which made the entire field a mess.   
  
Of course, they were getting late in the year now so every month the course would be worse in terms of weather conditions. All the more reason to pass in September. She shuddered to think what it would be like trying to get through all of that in January.   
  
Jemma took her time in the shower. The hot water and steam did wonders for her mood, and she'd have stayed there just for that. The amount of mud in her hair, however, required almost twenty minutes just to get it all washed out. She hated that she couldn't be absolutely sure she hadn't somehow missed some. She'd have to get Fitz to check it over for her after. 

She felt mostly human again by the time she met Fitz out front. He looked like he'd been sitting for a bit, reading something on his phone, but he didn't seem annoyed by the wait. He was good that way. Always able to keep himself occupied with something rather than sitting around feeling bored.   
  
"Good call on wearing Academy sweat suits," Jemma complimented him. When they'd seen the state of the course, Fitz had asked if they might borrow some togs from the Academy, and they'd been giving standard training suits that they could just drop back into the laundry when they were done. "I hate to think what they'd have done to my washing machine," she shuddered.   
  
"Right?" Fitz chuckled his agreement. "I'd have spent the next month digging mud out of the gears. As it is, I'm betting they'll take one look at those suits and decide discretion is the better part of valour and just pitch them."

Jemma laughed as they left the training facility and got back into Fitz's car. She sighed again as she buckled up.

"I really thought we had it this time," she said dejectedly. 

"Hey," Fitz said softly. He reached across the centre console and gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. "We'll get it next time."

Jemma nodded. Then she sighed again. She gave Fitz's hand a return squeeze and wished she didn't have to give it back to him so he could drive. 

Fitz gave her an analytical look and then seemed to make a decision. "I know what you need to cheer you up," he said confidently.

Jemma chuckled. Leave it to Fitz to decide she needed cheering. "And what's that?"

"Ah-ah," he tutted, shaking his head. "It's a surprise. Now close your eyes and have a little nap while I take us there."

She gave him a slightly distrustful look that was marred by the amused smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips. He just stared back with a smile trying to appear on his face. Finally, she rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat, eyes closed and trying not to count the turns to guess where he was taking her.   
  
"Jemma? Jemma."

She blinked and yawned, looking at Fitz in surprise. He was shaking her shoulder and leaning over her. "What?"

"When I told you to take a nap, I didn't think you really would! You must have been tired."

Jemma wiped at her eyes and yawned one more time. "Where are we?"

"At your surprise."

Fitz pointed out her window to a shop front and Jemma craned her neck to read the sign above the door. 

**Avowed Cake Designs**

"Fitz?"

"Who doesn't love free cake when they're down?"

 


	29. Chapter 29

Fitz smiled encouragingly at Jemma even as he felt the butterflies kick up in his stomach. He tried to tell himself that he was being ridiculous. He was  _long_ since over that silly crush he'd thought he'd had on Jemma two years ago. 

Unfortunately, he wasn't all that convincing. 

_What's wrong with you? She's your best friend, you berk! You ruined a perfectly good roommate situation already with that nonsense. Don't ruin free cake, as well!_

"Come on," he said. Reaching over, he unclipped her seatbelt for her and then hurried to open his door before she talked him out of it. Jogging around to the other side of the car, he got her door for her and bowed with a flourish as she got out. 

Jemma actually laughed, which made the whole thing worth it. 

Plus, not for nothing but he was probably really selling the whole 'engaged' business to the staff. When he righted himself and closed her door there were two of them looking through the window with the sort of melting-hearts look his mum had at the end of a sappy romance film. 

Jemma balked a bit when she saw the towering wedding cake in the front display, but Fitz just grabbed her hand and pulled her into the shop with him. 

"Hello," he said exuberantly, greeting the staff with an unnaturally (for him) broad smile. "We haven't an appointment, but I was wondering if my  _fiance_ -" He turned to Jemma and waggled his eyebrows at her, playing up the word for both her and the attendants. "And I might be able to try a few samples of cake?"

One middle-aged woman turned to the other with a skeptical look on her face. Or at least, an attempted skeptical look. She was clearly a romantic at heart and a bit of a pushover. "What do you think Marjorie? We do still have some of that cake leftover from the Choi-Schneider party this morning..."

Marjorie was an even bigger pushover than her coworker, and she nodded immediately. "Of course," she agreed. Then she turned to Fitz, looking as excited as a schoolgirl at Christmas. "Are you from Scotland, then?"

Fitz's grin got a bit wicked in the corners until Jemma stepped on his foot and reined him in. 

"I am, yes," he said. He  _might_ have thickened his accent up just a bit. For the locals. "And my bride-to-be is actually from jolly old England."

"No!" Marjorie gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Well, isn't that just  _picturesque_?" she asked. Reaching out, she grabbed the other woman's hand and gave it a squeeze, as if to seek support in this emotional moment. "Oh, Susan! Aren't they just  _adorable_ together?"

Susan nodded, her cheeks getting even rosier than their already ruddy hue. "Adorable," she confirmed. Coming around from the back counter, she ushered them over to a cute little table already set with forks and tea cups. "You'll want tea instead of coffee, I expect?" she asked. 

Marjorie was already trundling around the other side of the counter with a cart. 

Fitz exchanged a look with Jemma, and he was hard-pressed not to laugh. 

"That would be lovely," Jemma nodded. She kicked Fitz under the table, and he tried to get his face back under control. 

"I'll get the cakes!" Marjorie volunteered. She bustled her way into a back room as Susan pulled up a chair and sat down with them at the table. 

"Now, tell me the story all about how the two of you met and fell in love and got engaged," she said. Clearly this was her favourite part of her job and something she routinely asked the couples who came in. 

Fitz opened his mouth to begin, but she cut him off on the first syllable.

"Marjorie!" she shouted back over her shoulder. "Hurry up! They're starting!"

Fitz shared a glance with Jemma again, and this time neither one of them was able to keep a straight face. He buried his face in his teacup and Jemma patted her mouth with her napkin and they both tried very hard not to look at each other while Susan stood up and investigated what Marjorie was doing. 

"What's taking you so long?" she asked. Her voice carried easily from the doorway back to their table, so Fitz knew if they actually laughed they'd be caught out. 

"Free cake  _and_ a free show!" he whispered across the table at Jemma.

"Stop!" she begged. Her eyes were watering and she was hugging her stomach. "Don't make me laugh. I'm barely keeping it in as it is!"

Fitz grinned. Well, that was a good sight better than the dejected woman she'd been a half an hour ago. "I'll tell the story and you jump in wherever you'd like and pad it out?" he suggested. 

Jemma nodded. Then she quickly picked up her teacup and took a hasty sip. Marjorie and Susan were on their way back, loaded down with half-eaten mini-cakes. 

"They're not as pretty as they were," Marjorie admitted, "But they still taste delicious."

Fitz smiled at her and gestured for her to sit down with them as well. "Taste is what we're here for today. We know we'll agree on that faster than we will on design."

Jemma nodded. "Speaking of, do you have a brochure we might take with us?" she asked. Like Fitz, she was putting on a stronger accent than she usually spoke with. 

Both women ate it up with the proverbial spoon. 

"Oh, of course! Don't you worry. We'll send you home with everything you'll need to make the perfect choice for your wedding."

"The cake is the centrepiece, after all!"

"Except for the bride, that is."

"Except for the bride."

Fitz and Jemma watched the exchange like observers at a tennis match. 

He was going to give them a tip at the end of this because they were more entertaining than most TV shows. 


	30. Chapter 30

Jemma dug into a lovely lemon chiffon cake as Fitz started telling their oh-so-romantic tale. He had a  _very_ good audience for it. 

"The first time I saw Jemma," he began, pointing at her and smiling fondly. If she hadn't known he was putting it on, she might have been convinced he was in love with her. "It was just before our seventeenth birthdays. We were born three weeks apart," he added in an aside. 

"Oh, it's perfect, already!" Marjorie squealed. Reaching over, she took Susan's hands in both of hers and held on tight. 

"She was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen," he continued to a chorus of happy sighs from the women. "With this long dark hair and these chocolate brown eyes and the cutest little freckles all over her face."

Jemma rolled her eyes, but she still smiled back. "That was before I started wearing makeup," she pointed out.

"I miss them when you do."

"Oh! Isn't he just the sweetest!" Susan pulled a crumpled tissue out of the sleeve of her blouse and dabbed her eyes with it. Marjorie borrowed it when she was done and dabbed her own eyes, then she stuffed it into her apron pocket.

"I was intimidated by how clever she was, and how beautiful, and how kind-"

Jemma scoffed. 

"Hey, I'm telling the story here! You'll have your chance." Fitz grinned at her and winked outrageously and the shop clerks loved every second of it. "Now, where was I?"

"You were intimidated."

"Because you already knew how perfect she was for you."

"And you didn't want to risk losing your soul mate by making a poor impression."

"Not that you could have."

"Not at all!"

Fitz and Jemma exchanged a look and both had to take a quick sip of tea to keep from laughing. 

"Right, thank you," Fitz continued after a brief moment of finding his composure. "Anyway, so I had no idea how to talk to her, but it worked out alright because we got assigned as lab partners in our Chemistry class."

"Oh! And you ended up making a love potion!" Marjorie giggled. Susan guffawed her approval of the pun. 

Fitz chuckled and shook his head. "Not just yet. Jemma had a boyfriend at the time."

Jemma blinked and her jaw dropped. "Oh my god! Paul! I'd forgotten all about him!" It was hard to believe, but she had. At the time, it had seemed like the end of the world when they'd broken up, but she'd long since realized he wasn't anyone worth remembering. So apparently she hadn't.

"Paul," Fitz said, turning to Marjorie and Susan and addressing them very seriously. "Was an absolute wanker."

Both women gasped in delight at such a 'British' insult. They looked to Jemma to see what her thoughts on the matter were.

"He was," she confirmed matter-of-factly. "But Fitz-" she gestured across the table. "Was kind enough to rescue me from him."

This time, the audience reaction was a sigh of satisfaction with a little wistful smile. The tissue made a reappearance and ended up back in Susan's sleeve. 

"But we didn't start dating just then," Fitz continued. 

"What?" Susan asked, full of consternation.

"Why not?" Marjorie asked, just as put out. 

Fitz shrugged. "I didn't know how to ask?"

Jemma rolled her eyes good-naturedly through the chorus of awws to that statement. "Who needed to ask? You'd already kissed me. You could have just kept on, and I'd have gone along with it," she laughed. 

That seemed to startle Fitz out of his storytelling frame. "What?"

It was Jemma's turn to shrug. "You were adorable." He looked unimpressed by that adjective, so she tried another. "Cute.  _Handsome_ ," she corrected herself again, impatiently. "I liked the look of you, alright?  _And_ you were funny and sweet and extremely clever. Really, if you'd just sort of assumed we were dating back then, we would have been."

Marjorie and Susan looked back and forth from one to the other of them, their eyes bright and their smiles eager. This was a better revelation than they usually got. And they got some good ones. 

"Well?" Marjorie prompted. 

"What finally got you two together?" Susan added on. 

Jemma saw that Fitz needed a moment to process what she'd just said, and she had to admit she'd need to think about it later herself. For now, though, she picked the story up where he'd left off. 

"Graduation, actually," she admitted. "I was terrified of losing him-"

Gasps  _and_ awws that time, and the two women clutched each other's hands a bit tighter. Susan pulled out that same poor tissue to have it at hand. So far, her eyes were misty but hadn't yet spilled over. 

"So I asked him to be my boyfriend. And my roommate."

 _That_ raised some eyebrows. 

"You work quickly!" Marjorie said. There was a large dollop of appreciation in both her tone and her expression. 

"And I thought lesbians moved quickly," Susan joked. Smirking, she nudged Marjorie with her elbow and the two women exchanged fond glances. 

"We moved in together after our fourth date," Marjorie explained. 

"And started this business after six months."

Jemma grinned. They were adorable. 

Fitz snorted and chuckled. "We could learn a thing or two from you," he said. "Took us  _years_ just to have a proper date."

"And years after that for him to propose," Jemma added. Always good to get some realism in there. They were hardly 17 anymore, after all. "And instead of planning it all out, he just asked out of the blue in the car. No ring. No nothing." She held up her bare left hand, then reached across to hold Fitz's. 

"It's on order," he said, putting on a show of grumpiness. "I just got too impatient is all. I couldn't wait any longer." He covered Jemma's hand with his and smiled. 

"Oh, that's just lovely," Susan sniffed. She blew her nose loudly on her poor crumpled tissue. 

Marjorie got up and fetched a box from the sideboard so that she could blow her nose as well. "What did he say?" she asked. 

Jemma blushed. She'd never really thought about being proposed to before. She had no idea what sorts of things were generally said. 

Then she remembered that time at the restaurant when Fitz had embarrassed her so completely. 

"He pulled the car over," she said, smiling at Fitz as she spoke. "And he turned to me and took my hand. And then he said, 'Jemma Simmons. You've been my partner in everything since we were 17 years old. Will you be my partner in everything for the rest of my life?'"

"Oh!"

"Aww!"

Jemma grinned and shrugged. "And how could I say anything  _but_ yes?"

Still grinning at Fitz, she felt an overwhelming warmth spreading through her chest. Two hours ago, she'd been feeling dreadful in every way that she possibly  _could_ feel dreadful and now here she was laughing and smiling and telling stories. Fitz had done that for her. 

He really was the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Her best friend in the world. 


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is written in two columns to show that the events are taking place at the same time. Feel free to read one column first and then the other column. They can be read in either order. If you decide to read them together, you'll see some parallels you might not otherwise pick up :)

The ride home to Jemma's apartment was mostly silent with a few awkward attempts at conversation. Both of them were too preoccupied with their thoughts to engage in small talk, and they both had the convenient excuse of being too full of sugary cake to want to talk. They'd been planning on having dinner together that night, but once again the cake provided the perfect excuse to beg off and suggest a rain cheque. 

Privately, they were both wondering if they might not be 'sick' the next day as well. That cake was turning out to be enormously helpful. 

* * *

 

Jemma sat at her kitchen table with a mug full of tea and a mind whirling with thoughts.  She was glad she'd let Fitz take all of the cake home with him, otherwise she'd be eating the lot just to have the distraction. |   | Fitz sat on his sofa with eight different cake samples laid out on his coffee table and a fork in his hand. Thank god for Marjorie and Susan deciding to send him home with a care package. It wasn't the healthiest of dinners, but it would do.  
---|---|---  
She was trying very hard not to think about what she'd told Fitz because thinking about it made it more real, somehow. If she just ignored it, she could pretend it was just something she'd said to help keep their 'cover' with Susan and Marjorie. If she thought about it...  |   | He tended to eat whatever was handy at the best of times, but right now he was too distracted to cook. What on earth had Jemma meant with all of that talk about him being handsome and them dating for real? Was she serious? Or just putting it on?  
If she thought about it, she'd have to admit it wasn't entirely false.  |   | Did he want her to be serious?  
But that didn't mean she  _still_ felt that way. Sure, she'd had a little crush on Fitz back at the Academy. Who wouldn't have? And maybe she hadn't acknowledged it at the time, but she was a grown woman now. Much more mature. She could admit to having "liked" her best friend, and it wasn't the end of the world.  |    | There had been a while there when he'd had... _unfortunate emotions_ when it came to Jemma. Unfortunate because they weren't returned. True, he'd never approached her about it, but he didn't really think he needed to. He knew what her response would be. A fond smile and a gentle refusal.   
Except what if she  _did_ still feel that way? Or feel that way again? What did that mean? What would happen to their friendship? Fitz was her best friend in the world, she couldn't lose him over some silly, vague idea that she might want to kiss him. |    | At least, that's what he'd always  _thought_ her response would be. But now? Now it was all confused. From the way she'd described it, she'd just been waiting for him to take the initiative. That didn't especially  _sound_ like Jemma, but maybe...?  
Again. |   | No. That was ridiculous.   
She hadn't thought about it in years, but suddenly she found it very easy to remember just how Fitz's lips felt against hers. She remembered the last time it had happened, that night of the awards ceremony.  |   | If she wanted them to have a romantic relationship, she could bloody well  _tell_ him so. She was never at a loss for words on any other topic! Half the time, he struggled to get her to  _stop_ talking!  
Frowning, she remembered what  _else_ had happened that night. That was the night that Fitz had decided they needed to stop pretending they were a couple.  |    | Hell, she'd been the one to suggest they  _fake_ a relationship, way back when they were graduating. If she'd wanted the real thing, she'd had a golden opportunity to ask for it right there.   
Shaking her head, she stood up and poured the last of her tea down the kitchen drain. That settled it. If kissing Fitz had been enough to end a fake relationship, then trying for more than they already were was just asking for their friendship to end. Since she couldn't imagine her life without Fitz there with her, it was an easy decision.  |   | Stabbing his fork into his fifth slice of cake, he took such a large bite that he got icing on his face. After a considerable amount of chewing, he wiped his face clean with his hand and set his jaw decisively. If she was so bloody interested in him being her boyfriend, she could tell him so herself. And if it was all just a yarn to tell to a couple of old biddies, so be it.   
Friendship was more important than romance, anyway.  |   | He wasn't going to risk looking a fool when he didn't know she was even really interested.   
Wasn't it? |   | Except what if she was?


	32. Chapter 32

_When everyone thinks your best friend is your soulmate, you can't help wondering if maybe they are._

* * *

 

"Agents Simmons and Fitz here to see you, sir."

Jemma took a deep breath and smiled nervously at Fitz as they waited outside the door. They didn't know exactly  _whom_ they were seeing, they just knew it was someone massively important who had something massively important for them to do. 

Fitz smiled back and they touched hands for a moment of mutual reassurance. Then they were lead inside the posh corner office that was almost never used. 

There, sitting on the edge of the desk, was a ghost. 

Or at the very least, someone they'd thought was dead.   
  
"Agent-"

"-Coulson!"

As sometimes happened, they finished each other's thought. 

They'd never met the man before, of course, but they'd watched the memorial services and read the obituary. Tony Stark himself had given the eulogy, followed up by Captain America who actually laid his shield on the casket during the service. There was no way that had been fake, and yet...

"I know, I know," Coulson smiled. He nodded and waved them to the two chairs in front of him. "I look pretty good for a dead guy."  
  
"Understatement," Fitz murmured.

Jemma slapped his arm. She was still staring at Coulson, trying to figure out if he were some sort of hologram. Had SHIELD perfected cloning? Had his consciousness been downloaded into an extremely advanced form of android?

"Turns out, I wasn't as dead as everyone thought," Coulson continued breezily. "But _since_ everyone thinks it, we don't want to tell them I'm not unless we have to. Got it?"

Jemma nodded. "Of course, sir. But can I ask-?"

"-Why you're telling us?" Fitz asked. Jemma nodded her agreement with the question. 

Coulson chuckled. "I see what they mean about you two being the dynamic duo," he joked. "I'm telling you because I want you to join my team."

"Your team?"

"What team?"

"I'm putting together a group of individuals to work with me out in the field."

"In the-!"

"The field?"

"And from what I've heard, you two are the best scientists SHIELD has. The best is what I need."

"Well thank you sir, but-"

"Yeah, but we haven't passed our field-"

"-Our field assessment scores are still-"

"-Be absolute rubbish in the field."

Coulson looked back and forth from one to the other of them as they spoke at the same time but with the same general message. Jemma frowned. Their timing was a bit off.   
  
"I've got the field part covered," he assured them. "It's the science I need help with. I was told the two of you were looking to get field assignments. Congratulations. You just got one."

He stood up from the desk and held out a his hand for each of them to shake in turn. They stood up as they did so and then he was ushering them out of the room. 

"Report to Airfield 2 at 0800 on Monday."

Jemma felt a swoop of excitement swirl around in her stomach, even as a long to do list started forming in her head. She and Fitz were going into the field! With  _Agent Coulson!_

"Oh and-"

She turned back to look at her new superior officer, Fitz swiveling around with her at the same time. 

"This is Level 7 information, FitzSimmons. Make sure you keep it to yourselves."

* * *

 

It all happened a bit quickly after that. There was packing to be done and goodbyes to be said. Reassuring phone calls to mum and dad that she was going to be working on something discreet and wouldn't be in contact as much.

Eileen had nearly screamed the roof down when she'd found out they were going into the field, and she'd tried her very hardest to get Jemma to spill the beans, but she was steadfast. No word of it would cross her lips, not even to one of her best friends - and the woman who'd be taking care of her flat whilst she was gone.   
  
Fitz was just as busy as she was, so they didn't see much of each other in person in the scant four days they had to rearrange their lives. 

She very nearly ran over and gave him a hug when the SHIED SUV dropped her off in the hangar and she spotted him next to his things. 

"Fitz!" She waved excitedly, a huge smile on her face, as she pulled her pack onto her shoulders. 

He was looking a bit grumpy. Mornings weren't his forte, and he'd probably had about as much sleep as she had since they'd gotten this assignment. He had boxes and bag scattered all around him, much as she did. Between personal belongings and lab equipment and prototypes, they'd needed a car each just to transport everything. 

A couple of agents picked up some of the heavier pieces for her as she walked over to Fitz and grabbed one side of the night-night gun case. 

"Ready for an adventure?" she asked excitedly. 

Fitz just pinched the bridge of his nose and squinted at her. "Can you turn down the enthusiasm a bit?" he begged a bit peevishly. "At least until I've had a decent amount of tea?"

Yes. Definitely overtired and grumpy. Still. Onwards and upwards!  
  
"I'll turn mine down if you turn yours up," she haggled. "We don't want them all thinking we don't want to be here, after all! They might send us back!"

Fitz opened his mouth, and she could just  _tell_ what he was going to say. 

"And then I'll never let you hear the end of it."

When he shut his mouth tight again, she smiled smugly. This was going to be fun. 


	33. Chapter 33

Fitz straightened his tie for the third time and tried to make his hair behave itself a bit better. He was looking a bit poodle-like, unfortunately. Perhaps he should take a look at the water on the Bus, see if it was too hard. 

He thought of a half-dozen other factors that might be contributing to his tighter-than-usual curls, but eventually he gave up. It was all just self-distraction to take his mind off of what he was trying to get up the guts to do: talk to Skye. 

She was gorgeous and funny and smart. She ticked off most of the items on his "dream girl" checklist. He'd be crazy not to go for it, wouldn't he?

His face grew determined in the mirror and he gave himself a nod as he set his shoulders back. It was just a conversation. Just a quick, friendly hello-and-how's-it-going? Step one was getting to know each other a bit before he tried out step two. 

Step two was a bit more intimidating. Best to focus on what was in front of him. 

With one last tug on his tie and a deep breath for confidence, he left his room. 

And ran directly into Ward. 

"Oh good. I was looking for you. I need you to give me one of those nighttime guns so I can test it out, get a feel for it."

Fitz tried to peer around Ward's massive torso to see into the lounge, but with his arms crossed over his chest like that there was just no way. His expression soured a bit. 

"It's a night- _night_ gun," he corrected him irritably. "And we're still testing it. It's not ready to go into the field yet."

Ward shrugged his shoulders. "Coulson said it's going to be by the time we get to our next op, and if he expects me to be able to use it, I need to try it out first."

Fitz sighed in exasperation but gave in. "C'mon then," he said gracelessly, waving Ward along behind him. The bloody great goon.  _He_ never had to worry about his hair being out of place. Not with the massive amounts of gel he put in it. "But I can't give you live rounds. We don't have enough of the serum yet to allow you to go wasting it on targets."

"That's fine. As long as the blanks have the same weight and balance."

Fitz turned to frown at him halfway down the stairs. "Of  _course_ they do!" He said indignantly. "What's the bloody  _point_ otherwise?" Shaking his head, he muttered to himself about the lack of forethought of Ops agents as he finished descending the staircase and palmed open the door to the lab. 

His demeanor improved vastly upon entering. Skye was right there. 

With Jemma. His eyes narrowed a bit. What was that about?

* * *

 

"So, how long have you and Fitz been a thing?"

Jemma looked up from her microscope and turned to look at Skye in surprise. She was sitting on the table in the middle of the lab, leaning forward with her hands on the table top and her legs swinging in front of her. Jemma had so far resisted the urge to tell her to get down, but it wasn't easy. As she bit her tongue again, she reminded herself that she could sterilize it again later. 

"Oh, we've known each other for  _years_ ," Jemma smiled. "He's been my best friend since we were at the Academy together."

Skye frowned slightly at that. "Ward was talking about this Academy place, too. Is it like spy college or something?"

Jemma laughed and nodded. "In a way, yes. Fitz and I both had our doctorates already before entering, which is standard in the Sci-Ops division, but for Operations they're a bit more...  _lenient_ on the academics. They're more interested in physical capabilities over there."

Skye snorted. "Was that genius-speak for Ops agents being all muscle, no brains?"

Jemma blushed, eyes wide. "That's not what I meant at all!"

Of course it  _was_ what she'd meant - a  _bit_ \- but she hadn't intended for Skye to  _know_ that. 

"Uh huh. Sure." Skye's grin betrayed the fact that she didn't believe Jemma at all. "So when did you get into spy school anyway? If you had a PhD already, I mean, do you just look  _really_ good for your age or what?"

"We were both just before our 17th birthdays, actually. We're three weeks apart." She resisted the urge to say that she was three weeks younger.

It was one of those details that irked Fitz sometimes. Whenever anyone spoke of someone being the 'youngest ever,' she was given the title ahead of him. Of course, he  _did_ use his 'elder' status whenever he thought he could get away with it, so the annoyance worked both ways. 

Skye whistled. "So you guys have been together for like a  _decade_?" she asked in surprise. 

Jemma shrugged and nodded. "Just about, yes."

"Dude. How come he hasn't put a ring on it yet? Are you one of those anti-marriage types?"

Jemma blinked. "Anti-marr-"

Before she could clarify, Fitz came into the lab with Agent Ward. She found herself blushing bright red. 

"I'm going to need at least a dozen rounds," Ward was saying.

Fitz looked fairly well cheesed off. She knew he had a tendency to get annoyed by Ops agents, but they'd had a talk the first night they'd been on board, and she thought he'd agreed to  _try_ to get along with him. 

"Rounds of what?" Skye asked. 

Jemma immediately saw the beginnings of a potential problem. Skye was looking at Ward like she was interested in seeing what was under his tight tshirt, and Fitz was looking at Skye like-. Well, in a similar-although-not-entirely-the-same sort of way. It was close quarters on the Bus. The last thing they needed was a love triangle. 

"He wants to test the night-night gun," Fitz replied shortly. Then he realized who he was talking to and tried to modulate his tone. Jemma managed to hide her smile, but only just. "It's a new weapon that I've designed," he continued, puffing himself up like a peacock. "So he needs to practice with it before he takes it out on an op."

"That's right," Ward nodded. He was already rooting through the case that Fitz had just opened. Jemma winced at the sight of it. 

"Perhaps I could help you with that, Agent Ward?" she offered. Better to help than to let Fitz blow up in front of Skye. He was clearly trying to make a nice impression. That was his favourite tie he was wearing. 

"I heard you talking about that before," Skye said. Fitz moved over to talk to her while Jemma gently nudged Ward out of the case and started gathering blank rounds for him to use. "Why night-night?"

Jemma didn't have to see Fitz's face to know he'd just lit up. He was so proud of the name, even though every person who heard it thought it was rubbish.

"Because when you shoot someone with it, they go night-night," he said proudly. 

"Go night-night?"

Jemma heard the massive skepticism in Skye's voice and hurriedly dumped the rounds into Ward's hastily cupped hands. She needed to nip that in the bud. 

"As in go to sleep," she said brightly, moving quickly to stand beside Fitz. "It knocks them unconscious. It's a non-lethal combat weapon. They're sort of Fitz's specialty."

She looked at Fitz proudly. What was the term again? Oh yes. She was being a good wingman. Support and compliment him in front of the woman he was pursuing in order to aid his attempts at seduction. 

"Huh. Cool."

Skye pushed herself off of the table and landed lightly on her feet. "Can I go watch you shoot it?" she asked Ward. 

Jemma looked at Fitz out of the corner of her eye. He looked a bit gutted. She felt a bit gutted on his behalf. 

As Skye and Ward left the lab, she turned to Fitz with a support smile. 

"Cup of tea?" she offered. 

"Yeah," Fitz sighed. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this fic, feel free to [find me on tumblr](http://memorizingthedigitsofpi.tumblr.com/).  
> You can also track updates via [this post](http://memorizingthedigitsofpi.tumblr.com/post/173757864317/the-story-of-the-many-many-times-that-fitz-and), which I'll reblog with each new chapter posted.
> 
> If there's a fake dating trope you _really_ want me to include, feel free to let me know. No promises, but I might be able to get it in here somewhere :)


End file.
